The Pokémon Trainer's Assistant
by Thorndrop
Summary: Young lab assistant Elliot has been landed with the job of accompanying the professor's bratty granddaughter on her pokémon journey, much to his displeasure. No romance. Darker themes later on. New region. OCs ACCEPTED AS MINOR CHARACTERS.
1. First Day of a New Job

_Pokéballs? Check. Medical supplies? Check. Books? Check._

Elliot sighed to himself as he hitched his large black rucksack over his bony shoulders.

He shook his head as he groaned. "Why am I doing this?"

An urgent shout pulled him back into reality.

"Yes, I'm coming!" he yelled impatiently. He brushed his dark brown hair across his forehead with one hand and bolted through the steel door.

_I must look a sight. Here I am, in my everyday clothes with a whopping great backpack and pokéballs dangling at my waist. If anyone dares laugh they'll get a sock in their smug little face!_

"Good morning, Elliot," said a tall man, extending his frail arm and limping towards him. His circular spectacles slipped down his bony nose and he propped them up again with a long finger. Elliot grumpily shook the man's hand.

"Yeah, yeah, so when do I have to-

He paused and turned. A latch clicked open and sunlight shone into the laboratory, forcing Elliot to fling his arm up in front of his eyes.

In the brightly coloured portal to the outside stood the silhouette of a young girl.

_Here we go…_ Elliot rolled his eyes and watched, hand on hip, as the professor hobbled over to greet the youngster. The girl was led inside, holding the professor's hand proudly. Now that she was closer, Elliot could make out her freckled face, complete with an optimistic smile.

"Elliot, this is Amber," the professor introduced her, "and Amber, this is Elliot, my junior researcher." Elliot just stood there and looked down at the girl through his rectangular, steel-rimmed spectacles, tapping his foot on the metal flooring, unimpressed.

Amber looked up at Elliot, and then across to the withered old professor. She folded her arms and demanded, "Well, what's he here for now? Aren't I meant to be getting my pokémon? I want to be a pokémon master – I won't need to know people at the lab!"

_Ah, naivety. How it is to be young. God help me if I was ever a bratty little child like that. I'd hope someone would have kicked my head in before it got stuck up my own arse!_

On realising that the girl couldn't be intimidated with a simple stare, Elliot avoided making eye-contact with her altogether, and busied himself trying to identify every fossil that Professor Hawthorne had left out around the microscope.

"Elliot here's going to be your assistant-

He swivelled around immediately and broke his stoic poise. "What?" Elliot shouted incredulously.

"Oh hush," Hawthorne scolded, placing his bony hand on Elliot's shoulder. "She's my granddaughter, remember?"

Elliot pulled a face. He did remember. He remembered alright.

_Why did I have to be such a stupid suck-up? If I'd have just done absolutely nothing around the lab and never took on any new projects this would never have happened. Anyway, why does _she_ need a bodyguard? Every other kid in Kohama's going out, wandering about without anyone there to take care of them. It's part of being a trainer!_

He sulked, but there was little he could do. If he refused to do it, Hawthorne wouldn't think as much of him. In his current position, Elliot was the youngest researcher in the lab and Hawthorne seemed to think pretty highly of him. At least, that was Elliot's opinion.

Elliot dragged behind as Hawthorne led his beloved granddaughter over to the cabinet holding the starter pokéballs. It was a rather dark corner of the lab, hardly inspiring to any new trainer. In their lab though, it was not a priority, so kept getting pushed further to the side whenever they got a fancy new machine brought in.

"Now," Elliot heard Hawthorne saying gently as he struggled to crouch down to Amber's level, "even though you're my granddaughter and I love you very much, another nice young man arrived here earlier and chose the squirtle. So I'm afraid you're left with either a charmander or a bulbasaur."

Elliot allowed himself a secret laugh as he noticed Amber's lower lip tremble. He half-expected her to cry, but she didn't. Instead, she snatched the pokéball bearing a leaf symbol and folded her arms.

"Fine!" she pouted. "Bulbasaur's _mine_."

She sulked for a minute and then noticed Elliot watching her. "What's his problem?" she demanded. "Is he stuck with a charmander now?"

Professor Hawthorne groaned as he pulled himself to his feet whilst putting his weight on the metal work surface. "Come," he beckoned with a gentle flick of his hand, "I have something else you might appreciate."

Still folding her arms crossly and holding Bulbasaur's pokéball tightly in the tips of her fingers, Amber traipsed across to her grandfather's desk. He opened a wooden drawer and pulled out a small, red computer device.

Elliot's jaw dropped. "Wait – your grandkid gets a pokédex and I don't even have one?"

Hawthorne nodded. For once, Amber looked impressed with herself and stuck her tongue out smugly at Elliot.

"Oh well…" he sighed. "I prefer my books anyway. At least books make you look intelligent."

When the professor turned his back to fetch something else, Elliot stuck his tongue out back at the girl. He knew it was childish, but something in him was proud to have got one over on the smug little princess.

What Hawthorne had for Amber was a small net bag containing five empty pokéballs, shiny red, new and unscratched. The little girl reached up and took them like a dog accepting a treat. Her bright blue eyes beamed in awe.

"Thanks, granddad!" she grinned, reaching around and emptying the pokéballs hastily into the side pocket of her rucksack.

Hawthorne ruffled her blonde hair. "That's my girl."

They smiled at each other for a minute or two and Elliot became increasingly aware of being a third wheel. Eventually, Hawthorne wiped a single tear from the corner of his wrinkled eyelid and beamed proudly at Amber, who flung her arms around the old man's skinny waist. He placed his hands on the back of her neck and seemed at ease – for the first time Elliot could recall – with human physical contact.

"Well," he wept when Amber released him from her grasp, "Goodbye, my Amber. Take good care of her, Elliot."

Elliot nodded, emotionless. He hoisted his black rucksack to a more comfortable position on his shoulders and walked briskly towards the door.

Without warning, he turned around and frowned quizzically at the professor. "I just thought – won't I look like a pervert, walking around in the middle of nowhere with a ten-year-old girl?" He breathed deeply and steadily, his heart beating fast with the slight possibility that he may have found a way out of this.

Hawthorne raised a bushy grey eyebrow. "It's simple – you just tell people you're her elder brother!"

"You're not serious?" Elliot looked at the professor quizzically. "We look nothing alike!"

Hawthorne laughed. He tapped Elliot on the arm to nudge him over to Amber. He stood back as if admiring a piece of artwork and nodded his head.

"You look exactly alike," he said seriously for a moment, stroking his bare chin with a finger. The edges of his wrinkled mouth wobbled and his eyes creased up. "You look like you've never seen the sun and you're both short, skinny little runts too!"

Seeing him break out into that outlandish chuckle, Elliot turned his back before Hawthorne could see his cheeks glowing bright tomato red. The boy stormed the rest of the way towards the door, stamping in his red high tops across the sterile grey flooring.

Then he was outside. He stopped and inhaled, filling his lungs with salty air. The lab was behind him and Acacia Town lay in front of him. The sea was lapping at the sandy shoreline and pidgey were cooing from the trees.

"Are you coming or not?" he shouted over his shoulder. He lowered his voice to a grumble and muttered, "Kids don't walk very fast these days."

Amber slammed the door behind her and skipped up to him on the path. Elliot set his eyes straight ahead, paving his way through the small town in tunnel vision, oblivious to the small girl excitedly tottering along beside him.

_This is going to be a long day…_

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Thanks for reading. Yes, this story features OCs and takes place in a region created by me - Thorndrop. Kohama is located on the mainland of the pokémon world, north of Kanto and Johto. There will be no fake pokémon. I wanted to use a new region in order to add an element of surprise to the story. If you don't know the region from a pokémon game or anime (etc...) then you won't know what's on the way next for the trainers. I'd like to get some feedback on whether that was a good idea or not, or whether people think it's best to stick with the well-known regions.

Also... OCs.

I can not promise to include any of the OCs submitted, but will ask permission if I do use one or use one as inspiration for a character.

Now that I've gotten that disclaimer out of the way...

Name:  
>Age:<br>Appearence:  
>'Job': (Trainer collecting badges, just a traveller, co-ordinator maybe - I still don't know if there's going to be contests in this region yet, some sort of worker in a job where they actually have to stay in a town, researcherscientst, farmer/rancher... These are just some of the types of people who they might meet.)  
>Personality:<br>Pokémon if they have them:  
>Any interesting details:<p>

**Edit:** I forgot to mention that since it's on the same land mass as Johto and Kanto, there will be no 'newer' pokémon (ie. from Sinnoh or Unova). Mostly because I'm not familiar with them myself. Also, I'd appreciate it if OCs didn't have Japanese-sounding names. Not because I'm racist, but because it'd fit in better with the story since all of my characters have western names. Some OCs which don't already have full teams of evolved pokémon would be nice too.

I do plan to create my own gym leaders too. I already know which gym type I want in each town or city, so asking people to help wouldn't be much use unless they knew my region better than someone who's only read the first chapter of this story.


	2. The Farm Route

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for the reviews and OCs everyone submitted and to everyone who added this to favourites and alerts already. I didn't expect so many responses right away so I'm very happy! Particular thanks to Sun and Moon Entity who pointed out a mistake I'd made around Amber getting her starter pokémon. I'd said that the squirtle was taken by an earlier trainer, then had Amber take the squirtle anyway. It's sorted now. The chapter's been edited and Amber has left with a bulbasaur, who I think is a better fit for her after all. Normally I wouldn't update this fast, but from a combination of this being a new story which I'm excited to write and it being summertime with little to do, here it is. To any new readers - the OC form is at the end of chapter one. Enjoy!

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><p>They had been walking all morning and had left Acacia Town far behind. Elliot had set his eyes on a windmill in the distance and was stubbornly refusing to look elsewhere as he walked briskly along the dirt track through the grasslands. He moved with the comportment of a man who was running exceptionally late, but didn't want to panic and embarrass himself.<p>

"Why are you angry?" Amber asked curiously as she craned her face towards Elliot, jogging slightly to keep up with him. "Didn't you get the pokémon you wanted?"

"I already have pokémon," he said sternly and kept walking, eyes fixed on the windmill blades rotating in the distance.

"Let me see!" Amber squealed, eyeing the two pokéballs tied to Elliot's waist excitedly. He allowed himself a small grin as Amber's eyes lit up like flashlights.

"No," Elliot said and kept walking. He quite enjoyed the power trip he got from telling the girl off.

She pouted and scuffed her bright pink ankle boots kicking at the dirt path. They walked for a few minutes in quiet, only hearing the sounds of waves breaking on the shore, the wind running through the trees and their own footsteps pounding the trail.

"So does that mean you were a pokémon trainer when you were younger? I bet you weren't very good if you ended up working for granddad," she sniggered. Her wavy blonde hair fell like a curtain over one side of her face to obscure her mischievous grin.

Elliot tensed up. He clenched his fists, his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands and turning his skin white and numb.

"I stopped because I didn't care about the league," he corrected her firmly. "It had nothing to do with being good or not."

"Where did you travel?" she pestered, scurrying alongside him.

"Johto."

"Oh. Why not Kohama?"

"I lived in Johto."

Amber looked up at the sky and the faint outlines of mountains in the distance, past which the Johto and Kanto regions lurked. Elliot could tell that she had a million more questions, but was struggling to keep them to herself for now.

They stopped for lunch beside a leafy silver birch tree and a large boulder. Elliot leant back against the peeling white bark and watched ferries moving slowly across the water in the distance. They were eating their sandwiches in silence when a 'coo-coo' sound rang out from behind them.

"Oh wow!" Amber exclaimed. She jumped up from where she was sitting, dropped her half-eaten sandwich – freshly prepared that morning by a worried mother – on the grass and pulled out her pokédex from the pocket of her denim capri shorts. Elliot watched in amusement as she fumbled to open it and grab an empty pokéball from her loudly patterned rucksack at the same time.

As soon as the pokédex began its drone of, "Pidgey: the tiny bird Pokémon," the pidgey was flapping its wings rapidly, whirling up the loose dust from the track and blinding Amber and Elliot. "Pidgey are very docile, but chase off enemies by whipping up sand." Amber spluttered loudly and squinted, looking around for the Pokémon, but all that was left was a faint outline barely visible through the cloud of dust.

"It's not fair!" she wailed, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her fingertips. "What did I do wrong? The pokédex said it only attacks enemies!"

Elliot tilted his head and tapped his finger on his chin in mock confusion as he reclined against the tree trunk.

"Hmm, maybe shouting at it wasn't the best start?" he suggested. "And just a thought – you usually have to have your pokémon battle a wild one to weaken it."

"Fine," she huffed, "I can use Bulbasaur."

Bulbasaur sprang energetically from the pokéball when its button was pressed. The pale green Pokémon carrying a bulb on her back bounded towards Amber, who was wiping her brow with the sleeve of her fitted green hoodie.

"Bulba," spoke the pokémon in a low, rasping voice as she gently nudged Amber on her bare shins. Amber flinched in surprise and looked down at the pokémon. Instantly, her weary face lit up with an expression of glee as she remembered that she now had her own pokémon.

"Yes!" Amber said eagerly, "Let's go catch us a pokémon, Bulbasaur!"

The trio had walked for a while before they spotted one. The birch trees were becoming less and less dense at the right hand side of the trail and the route emerged into open fields interspersed with farms, all lined neatly with white picket fences. The stone windmill passed on their right, just beside a barn where the farmer was up a ladder applying a fresh coat of pillar-box red paint. The rotation of the blades made the sun a huge disco ball in the sky, flashing blinding light on the trainers as it set between the blades, beyond the town just up ahead. Then, just as Elliot had thought they were safe from another pokémon battling and capturing attempt gone wrong, a rattata jumped out at them from inside a cornfield, munching heartily on the crop.

Amber was about to reach for her Pokédex when Elliot pushed her hand out of the way.

"Look, it's a rattata. If you're fighting it, just bloody do it now!" he said urgently. Amber shot him a dirty look and held the pokédex still in her hand. She looked at it, then at Bulbasaur who waited at her feet, then at the rattata who was nearing the end of its corn cob. In a flash decision, she clasped the pokédex shut and pointed at the rattata.

"Bulbasaur, tackle attack!" she called loudly, startling the rattata. The rat pokémon dropped its food and leapt up, but Bulbasaur was on it like a meowth. Bulbasaur chased the rattata down the footpath, the rattata's long curly tail flailing behind its little body as it ran. The purple rat looked over its shoulder, two huge buck teeth obscuring any facial expression. Bulbasaur began to slow, and the rattata jumped headfirst into another field of crops that reached as high as Amber's chest. Amber slowed in her jog behind them and frowned.

"Bulbasaur, why didn't you catch it?" she demanded, walking up to the pokémon from behind. Bulbasaur cowered, taking refuge behind Elliot's leg when he arrived on the scene.

"Be quiet!" Elliot scolded. "Can't you see you're scaring the pokémon?"

"They've got nothing to be scared of!" Amber shouted, waving her arms around wildly. Even without turning around, Elliot heard the sound of a flock of pidgey flapping their wings and taking off.

She sobbed again, "It's useless. Why do pokémon hate me? Even my own pokémon hates me!" Amber unashamedly wiped the tears as they formed from the corner of her eyes and trickled like rivers down her cheeks.

Elliot knelt to the floor beside Bulbasaur. He picked up the pokémon and sat her on his lap. Bulbasaur smiled weakly.

"Look," Elliot whispered, and Amber paused for a moment and quietened down. "You just act calmly and your pokémon pick up on it. If you go mad, they'll react to that and get scared."

Amber sat down beside him and tapped Bulbasaur on the head tenderly. Bulbasaur smiled, and Amber smiled back between sniffles.

"See? It's not so hard, you can do it," Elliot said. He put Bulbasaur down on the path, brushed the dust from his knees and stood up.

"But I wanted to catch a pokémon," Amber moaned as she started to walk again. The path was just wide enough for the three of them to stroll beside each other and weaved its way between two separate farm fields.

"There's no hurry," Elliot soothed. "We'll reach Thistlebury Town soon anyway, and it's almost nightfall. We can try again tomorrow."


	3. An Unlucky First Battle

**A/N:** I _loved_ writing this chapter and had the idea for it whilst awake at night in bed, so I wrote most of it in a notebook right then. This chapter features my interpretation of WOWfan123's OC, Diane. Again, thanks for reviews, alerts, favourites and OCs. I do appreciate them. Even though the OCs don't get major roles, I like having them for inspiration. The way I'm writing, I'll only use an OC if they fit into the story and it flows effortlessly. I won't go out of my way to include a character as a favour to someone. That being said, some OCs with weak and/or common (Johto and Kanto) pokémon who have not done anything overly incredible (like win a league championship) would be nice. Because not everyone we meet turns out to be perfect.

Also, if anyone's interested in how I see Elliot, I have a sketch of him over on my deviantArt. I don't know how to put a link on here, but there's one on my profile page.

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><p>When Amber and Elliot finally arrived in Thistlebury Town, it was so late and there were so few lights on that the town was held in a veil of shadows. Having found a friendly bed and breakfast that was still open, they enjoyed their sleep. The last thing Elliot had expected when he paid the bill was to be woken up the next morning at sunrise by a meowth pawing at his face. He was tightly rolled up in his duvet like a human cocoon, but the pokémon would not give up tapping him.<p>

"Give it a rest!" he yelled as he swung his legs around to sit up on the edge of the bed. The duvet relaxed from around his middle and he rubbed his eyes groggily.

"Lucky – get off that man, now!" sounded a stern, high-pitched voice. Elliot got up to see who was there and then pulled the duvet back over himself in a hurry, remembering that he was still just wearing his boxer shorts.

Lucky ran towards the doorway and the girl standing there blushed. Though slightly taller and showing the beginnings of womanly curves, she couldn't have been much older than Amber. She picked up the cat pokémon in her arms and dashed out of sight, clattering along the hallway in her wooden shoes and her floral chiffon dress billowing out behind her.

Given a moment to recover from his rude awakening, Elliot gingerly eased himself out of the thick, feather-lined duvet and got dressed. Over a t-shirt, he pulled on his long-sleeved plaid shirt, which he left loose and unbuttoned. His cargo shorts were the dusty shade of ash and reached just below his knees when he stood.

"Breakfast's ready – I made it just for you!" cried a voice. Elliot was surprised to see the young girl with waist-length ginger hair peeking around his door with an eager smile on her face. How did he not hear her in those infernal clogs? He raised his eyebrows and continued rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

_No matter,_ he thought. _Breakfast sounds good._

The warm aroma of mushrooms being sizzled in a frying pan led Elliot to the kitchen, where the young girl was busying herself at the stove. The meowth weaved its way around her legs and purred affectionately. A glint of silver caught his attention and Elliot noticed a simple bell hanging from a red felt collar fastened around Lucky's neck.

"Nice meowth," he said somewhat sarcastically.

The girl giggled and blushed slightly as she prodded the mushrooms. "Lucky's a family pet and I love him with all my heart – don't get me wrong – but what I really want is a growlithe."

Elliot politely took a seat at the round wooden table where Amber was already sitting, picking at a splinter in the birch.

"Almost done!" the girl said proudly, cracking an egg on the worktops and letting it drop into the pan. It landed with a '_splat'_, and the oil crackled loudly. Breakfast was served.

Elliot learned that the girl's name was Diane, and that she took charge of the bed and breakfast on the odd occasion that both of her parents had gone out to work on their farm.

"It's the one just up Route 49," Diane said between mouthfuls, "with the miltank in the field."

Elliot shook his head. "Didn't see it." He picked up a piece of egg on his fork. "What pokémon do you get these eggs from anyway?"

"Well," said Diane, "chansey and farfetch'd are the best, but they're rare." She swallowed a slice of slightly burnt tomato and continued, "So these ones are just pidgey eggs."

Amber suddenly looked ill and scraped the egg off her fork. She didn't touch it for the rest of the meal and picked at the sausages, tomatoes and mushrooms instead.

When they had finished, Diane rinsed the dishes in the sink. "What do you say I take you on a tour of the town?"

"Great," said Elliot and picked up his bag.

Diane locked the door to the motel behind them as they left. "Since you're the only guests we've had in a while, I think it's pretty safe to assume no one else will turn up."

It was a mild day with a few cotton wool clouds floating lazily through the blue sky. The sun shone down on them, baking the hardened mud beneath their feet even more. As they walked, it became apparent that the motel looked like most other buildings in Thistlebury: wood panelled, painted a shade of red and the roof made of hay. The tallest buildings in the town were cylindrical silos poking up conspicuously from behind the farmhouses.

In the centre of the small town was a market. Energetic farmhands flogged their produce from beneath sheets of cloth propped up by sturdy tree branches. Hand bells rung loudly and voices chattered. Amber stopped.

The blonde girl stared attentively at the faint white markings inside a roped-off section of the ground. The dried out mud had been imprinted with tauros footprints and carried away in part by the wind. The barely visible circle in the centre of the cattle show ring and the two semicircles at either end unmistakeably denoted a pokémon battle arena.

"I want to battle you," Amber said to Diane, not shifting her gaze.

Diane looked ready and eager, but Elliot budged her aside. He tried to talk some sense into Amber. "You've never even beaten a _wild_ pokémon."

"I don't care," she replied predictably. "I'm a pokémon trainer now, and pokémon trainers have battles." She turned towards Elliot and said in a mocking whisper, "Besides, all she's got is the family pet. _Anyone_ can beat that."

Elliot stood up to his full height and rolled his eyes. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he said dismissively, turning his back towards Amber and slumping casually away into the market stalls. As he mixed with the locals, Amber and Diane ducked beneath the rope fencing and began their battle.

Bulbasaur faced Lucky head-on and their trainers stood behind them, staring down their opponents.

Amber held her pokédex open and listened to it talk about, "Meowth: the scratch cat pokémon," which taught her that her opponent was likely to set their meowth wandering down an alleyway to scavenge for dropped change.

_So this is why I never got a pokédex,_ Elliot thought as he retreated to the shade of a market stall beneath blue and white striped cloth. _All bloody useless and irrelevant! What sort of trainer really cares that meowth are total scavengers? I mean, unless you've got a meowth of course…_

On the battlefield, Bulbasaur made the first move – a poorly aimed tackle which may have hit Lucky if the Pokémon was a firmly placed target bolted to the floor. But Lucky was already moving in his slinky way. He twisted away from the oncoming attacker with skill and grace. Lucky – one could say.

Elliot bit his lip and tried not to watch. He knew Amber was going to get slaughtered.

In need of something to distract himself, Elliot reached out and picked up a dark blue berry from inside a plastic-lined box full to the brim of the fruit. He rolled it between his fingers, feeling its rough, dimpled skin. The stalk at the top was hard and had been trimmed right down when the fruit was harvested.

Still, he could not stop himself secretly watching the battle out of the corner of his eye.

It seemed to have attracted quite a crowd. From what Elliot could see, it was composed mostly of young farmers' boys and milkmaids, shouting and cheering in their accented drawl.

Amber was losing badly, and for a fleeting second, Elliot thought he felt sorry for her as the meowth dug his claws in deeply and raked them across Bulbasaur's skin. He subsequently gave himself a mental slap in the face and told himself to get a grip.

_Heck, I feel sorrier for Bulbasaur than I do for her. She was the one who was so full of herself and jumped headfirst into that battle. Bulbasaur didn't ask for this, but it's Bulbasaur who's suffering because of it._

"They're called oran berries, you know," the stall owner said, pushing more into Elliot's hands. His glance flicked back towards the stall. "Grow everywhere down south in Johto, but it's warm enough on the coast up here, so we brought them here and they're everywhere now!" he said. Elliot nodded politely.

He knew the match was finished when he overheard the loudest cheers yet. Elliot turned and saw Diane through the crowd, offering a friendly handshake to Amber.

"You cheated!" Amber spat, showing no interest in the handshake.

The crowd broke into a disapproving murmur.

"Oh lord," Elliot breathed. He hastily paid a little too much for the berries, forgetting that he didn't really want them anyway. The stall owner was very happy and wrapped the batch up in a neat paper bag for Elliot. Elliot snatched the bag from the clerk without so much an utterance of thanks and went to force his way through the crowd of youngsters.

"Out of the way!" he cried as he pushed the children aside, holding the top of the bag scrunched up in one hand. "I'm her brother, let me through." He hated saying that. It wasn't so much because it was a downright lie, but moreover because he didn't want have people associate him with a rude and ungrateful child.

When he had muscled his way into the centre of the ring, Amber ran straight past him. She barged through the crowd with no warning, knocking a little boy to his knees in the process. The boy wailed like a siren, and soon, a large burly man with a full beard and round belly was standing in front of Elliot, casting him a look of disgust. Elliot swallowed a lump which had formed in his throat and counted himself lucky that the farmer didn't have a pitchfork.

The man hocked up a thick gob of spit. It hit the ground before Elliot's feet, where it pooled and bubbled. Not gracing Elliot with words, the man picked up his son like a barrel in his arms and carried the screaming child away, stomping in his muddy boots and muttering unintelligibly as he went.

Elliot suddenly became aware that every eye in the town centre was set firmly on him. Even the tiniest whisper would have sounded like a huge waterfall.

"Excuse me," he said, his voice weakening. The crowd parted without protest, casting him a wide berth in which to shamefully escape the scene. As much as he never wanted to see her again, he knew he had to look for Amber.

He found her at the edge of town, kicking the base of a cracked wooden signpost marking the start of 'Route 50 – to Larkspire City'. He could only see her from the back, but it was unmistakably Amber; a figure with sandy blonde hair that waved at the tips, just below her shoulders where it touched the top of her violet backpack, decorated with the colourful outlines of geometric shapes. Her bag reminded Elliot of a togepi shell gone mouldy. His footsteps gave him away and Amber noticed him. She began to walk up the grassy hill, not waiting for him to catch up.

Elliot hiked behind her, ascending up through the long, dried out grasses. Individual blades tickled the hairs on his legs and there was no set path, only the vague idea of a route where the grass had been downtrodden. Elliot slowed down as he crested the hill. Turning around to face north, he looked out across the landscape and witnessed the beauty of the farming community from the air. Even further back was the tame woodland and Acacia Town itself, just in the bay where the small peninsula curved in on itself.

He saw Amber just up ahead and jogged up to her. "Hey."

She gave no response and carried on walking through the dried up grass, ripping violently with her feet at any blades that dare entangle themselves in her pink boots.

"Don't you feel bad about leaving Diane without saying goodbye?" he prompted.

Amber grunted and stomped down on a particularly sticky shoot that had attached itself to her shoelace. "No – she's a cheater!" the young trainer declared, taking out her anger on the plant.

They reached the bottom of the first hill and proceeded to ascend another, steeper one. The grass was becoming less and less dense, small areas of land given over entirely to dust.

"I need a new pokémon," she declared after they had walked in silence for a while. "A good one – one that can win battles. Not like crummy old Bulbasaur."

Elliot grimaced. _I really don't know how much more of this I can take._


	4. A Nickname and a New Teammate

**A/N:** I've had some detailed reviews which I'm very grateful for this time around - YamiRuss and fanficssuck.

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><p>"Go, Bulbasaur – tackle that nidoran!"<p>

Bulbasaur jumped forward, though her heart clearly wasn't in it. She was clearly lacking energy, and when the horned purple nidoran scurried away, it didn't surprise Elliot one bit.

Amber stomped her foot down hard on the ground. "Not fair! Why didn't you tackle it, Bulbasaur?"

"Bulba…" the pokémon mumbled hoarsely. Dark bags hung under her eyes, the same colour as the bruises that had formed on her body.

Elliot intervened promptly. "Maybe it's time for a rest."

Truth be told, it was getting late. The hills had levelled off, but now they were surrounded by plains on each side that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The night sky formed a cascade of stars, and the only sound was the occasional hoothoot.

When Elliot awoke the next morning from his sleeping bag, he was surprised to find Amber already up. She was rummaging through her bag with a heightened sense of purpose, and several bits of clothing were scattered around her on the floor. She pulled out a map, but became irritated when she tried to read it.

"We're here," Elliot said, leaning over her shoulder and pointing a finger at a spot between the two marked settlements of Thistlebury Town and Larkspire City.

Amber screwed up the map and tossed it over her shoulder. "There, you have it." And with that, she stood up and snatched Bulbasaur's pokéball from the ground.

"Get Bulbasaur out for me," Elliot demanded.

Amber raised her eyebrows at him as if he were insane. "Why? Bulbasaur's my pokémon. I thought you said you had your own."

Elliot sighed and zipped open his bag. He took out a bottle with a spray mechanism, holding a supply of purple liquid. "It's potion," he said. "It'll help soothe Bulbasaur's wounds."

Bulbasaur emerged from her pokéball looking weak, despite the nights rest. She looked up fearfully at Amber, who stood as tall as a skyscraper from Bulbasaur's perspective. Bulbasaur shuddered. Was she doomed to another day with the relentless commander?

Elliot beckoned Bulbasaur over to him and the pokémon's face lit up. He squirted a little of the purple gel into his hand and rubbed it into the scratch marks covering Bulbasaur's body. The congealed blood stood out against her green skin, but only up close could he see just how many faint red lines there were. It was like a maze, drawn on in red biro.

"Come on Bulbasaur, we're leaving," Amber said sternly when Elliot had finished applying the potion.

Bulbasaur looked at Amber, who stood tall with her back turned, and then to Elliot. Her natural smile sank at the corners and her eyes drooped.

"I'm sorry buddy, you're hers," Elliot said quietly. "It's rough, I know, but we've all got to make sacrifices some time. I'll see what I can do for you, okay?" He winked at the pokémon, but Bulbasaur slowly turned around and plodded off to meet her fate.

Elliot quickly stuffed the potion bottle and medicine kit back into his bag. He had nearly used a whole bottle of the medicine just on Bulbasaur. _But by god, it was worth it._ He flung the backpack over his shoulder and ran up to Amber.

"…together and convey their feelings by scent."

He only caught the end of the pokédex's prescribed entry, but Elliot saw the pokémon immediately. It was a ledyba – a big, friendly-looking, spotted bug. He could only guess that it had been flying north to Thistlebury Town and had gotten lost from its group.

Amber had mastered the strategy of attacking quickly; Bulbasaur extended her vines and wrapped them around the ledyba as it flew leisurely overhead. The bug trapped, she retracted them, pulling it to the ground. Amber looked satisfied.

She tossed one of her pristine, unused pokéballs at the ledyba as it squirmed in Bulbasaur's grip. The wild pokémon vanished into the ball and, with a flash, Bulbasaur could relax.

Amber went to pick up the ball. "Yeah! I caught a- huh?" She drew back a few paces. The ball shook rapidly, almost vibrating.

Elliot imagined the ledyba trapped inside, fighting a panicked battle to break free. And then… it did. The ball burst open and with a burst of light, ledyba was free and flying back on its path towards Thistlebury, eager to sample the crop fields.

Amber picked up the pokéball and pulled at it. It was hanging wide open, exposing its grey, mechanised interior. She held it up to her eyes and examined it a little too harshly. A snapping sound, and the clasp was broken. The ball bent back on itself and would not fasten again, no matter how hard Amber pushed. Frustrated, she lobbed it across the meadow.

Elliot cast a disapproving glance, which she returned swiftly. "Alright then, mister scientist, why don't you catch me a pokémon if you know best?"

There was no debating it. "No."

"Well how am I supposed to catch one if all I've got is a bulbasaur who can't fight properly?"

Bulbasaur shrank back behind Elliot's leg.

He thought for a moment and offered a suggestion. "Bulbasaur's not weak; it's just that you haven't bonded yet. Maybe if you gave Bulbasaur a nickname, it might help."

"How about 'Cry-baby'?"

"No. You're being silly. I think Bulbasaur needs a nice name that shows you care about her."

"But I don't-

"Give her a name!" Elliot roared.

Amber looked at Elliot's fierce eyes with genuine fear and backed down. "Fine – I'll call her 'Poppy'!" she sulked. "It still makes no difference."

Elliot calmed down. He was happy with that. It was as good as he was going to get, anyway.

Amber and the newly named Poppy battled several more pokémon, none of which they captured, and the monotony was really starting to grate on Elliot. The last thing he felt like doing was lingering to ponder the intricacies of the eleventh pidgey that morning.

"I'll tell you what," he sighed heavily, regretting it even as he spoke, "if you still want me to catch you a pokémon, I will. On the condition that I battle it with Poppy."

"Done," Amber snapped.

_Well, so much for trying to teach her independence,_ Elliot thought as he scouted out the meadows with Poppy. _I didn't think she'd be so quick to give in though. I always thought a girl like her would want to catch her first pokémon by herself no matter what._

He stumbled, almost tripping over a burrow. "Well, well, well, what have we here, eh Poppy?" he said.

The bulbasaur moved in cautiously and pressed her chin down to the floor to get a closer look. Hidden under a patch of long grass was a hole dug out by a group of pokémon. Poppy was startled and leapt back. She raised her back legs, making the bulb on her rump look even bigger.

One of the pokémon in the burrow clambered outside. Its eyes widened when it saw Poppy.

With the ring of tan fur around its belly, the sentret was like a moving target. Poppy knocked it off its feet as it scurried. The sentret hit the floor and rolled over onto its back, giving Poppy another chance to attack.

"Yes – we've got it Poppy!" Elliot cried, grabbing a pokéball. Just as he was about to throw it, the sentret curled its body up into a sphere and Poppy lost her grip. The sentret rolled like a bowling ball down the hill.

Elliot and Poppy chased after it, their hearts pounding.

The sentret was gaining speed and if they didn't catch it soon, it'd be gone. In a bold move, Elliot propelled his body forwards and leapt onto the sentret. The pokémon uncurled itself under Elliot's grip and he tapped its head with the empty pokéball. The sentret was sucked inside and the ball clicked firmly shut. Elliot smiled where he lay.

When he handed the pokéball to Amber, she seemed genuinely surprised. "How come you were able to make Poppy fight?"

Elliot exchanged smiles with the bulbasaur. "You just have to trust each other. A pokémon can't do that if its trainer can't see that it's hurt."

"Whatever."

She held the pokéball. Then she threw it, letting her new pokémon out for all to see. When the sentret appeared, Amber looked disappointed. "I thought you'd catch me something strong or rare."

Elliot bit down hard on his lip to avoid blurting out the thoughts racing through his mind: _I go out of my way and go against my main principle of being independent and I catch you a pokémon, and _this_ is all the thanks I get!_ _To hell with this! I've got a new game we can play – it's called 'see how long it takes for Amber to break and go home'. You give me any more hell, princess, and I can give it back!_


	5. Amber vs Elliot

**A/N:** Reviews appreciated, thanks. Do I really need to keep saying this? You guys know I appreciate reviews! Also, for those people who keep saying that Amber needs a slap in the face - meet your new favourite character!

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><p><em>Hmm… Once you get past the flavour texts, this actually has some pretty good data.<em>

Elliot was sitting up in his sleeping bag, browsing through Amber's pokédex. He had seen it hanging out of her bag that morning, just slightly. The spotless red cover glinted in the morning light, and he just couldn't resist, so he reached out and grabbed it. _If she doesn't like it, to hell with her,_ he had reasoned. _How many times has she done something I didn't like?_

He scrolled through the list of entries. _Of course, it only displays data on the pokémon she's seen since she got it. _Pidgey, rattata, meowth, nidoran, ledyba, sentret and bulbasaur, of course, were all it knew. _Nothing new here. Unless… I could show it some interesting pokémon._

Elliot craned his neck to get a closer look at Amber's sleeping form, her chest rising and falling with perfect regularity. _She's not waking up anytime soon._

He slowly eased himself out of his sleeping bag and tiptoed away, the pokédex gripped tightly in his sweaty palm. The pokéballs at his belt tinkled and he steadied himself, aware that any sudden movement could make a sound. When he had gotten far enough away from the camp, he stopped. He could see it still, but it was distant enough that he could not make out Amber's face without his glasses.

"Time to come out, guys," Elliot grinned. He grabbed a pokéball in each hand and tossed them up into the air. The scratched pokéballs spun around as they peaked, then dropped to the floor, and, with a spark, opened.

From one came a pokémon with sharp claws and evil eyes. The other – a zubat, flapping her purple and blue leathery wings to stay aloft.

"I've missed having you two around," Elliot said. The sneasel scoffed and looked at Elliot with pity. Elliot laughed. "Always the same, Sneasel. That's what I love about you." He turned to the bat pokémon. "And you, Zubat…" Words were not enough, so he simply said, "…are brilliant."

"I almost forgot." He pressed a button and the pokédex opened with a satisfying 'click'.

"Sneasel, the sharp claw pokémon," said the pokédex.

Sneasel drew in closer and looked at the device with a cautious frown.

It seemed however, that Sneasel was not the only curious one. Over the pokédex's recitation of, "…are extremely vicious and will lure pokémon away from their nests," rang a cry of incredulity.

Amber bolted towards him at a sprint, jaw gaping open. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" she cried breathlessly. She snatched the pokédex out of Elliot's hand. "Just because you're jealous doesn't mean you can take my things!"

Amber looked from the pokédex in hand to the two newcomers and put two and two together. She paused. "Are they your pokémon?"

_So much for trying to teach her independence. Now that she knows I'm not lying about having pokémon, she'll probably want me to fight all her battles for her._

"Yes…" sighed Elliot, defeated.

Much to his amazement, Amber appeared to have forgotten the pokédex trauma all of a sudden. She knelt down beside Sneasel and extended her arm to the pokémon's red, feather-like ear.

"I really wouldn't do that," Elliot warned, seeing Sneasel's eyes narrowing.

Amber didn't heed his advice. She touched Sneasel, and he swished around like a catapult, his blade-like claws slicing clean across Amber's body. Her lip wobbled and she clenched her eyes shut. A tear trickled out across each smooth cheek. She wiped her face on her sleeve and blurted out, "Elliot! I demand a battle with you, right now!"

He hesitated. "But-

"No 'buts'!" snapped Amber. Then she smiled slyly. "I could always tell granddad your pokémon have been attacking me."

Elliot bit his lip nervously. _She has a point. There's no way I'd keep my job if Hawthorne heard that. _"Fine!" he conceded.

Amber began. "Go, Terry!"

Elliot frowned. _Terry?_

'Terry' turned out to be her new sentret. "I gave him a nickname," Amber said proudly as the pokémon arrived on the plain.

"Zubat?" said Elliot. "You up for this?"

Zubat flew in obediently.

Amber shook her head. "No. I want to fight that sneasel."

"Really," protested Elliot, "you don't-

He thought of Hawthorne sacking him from the lab. It was not a pleasant thought.

"Alright," he sighed. "If it's what you want…"

Sneasel was ready and eager, already stepping out in front of Elliot. He grinned maliciously and clashed his claws together.

Elliot raised his eyebrows at Amber. "You sure? Last chance to turn back," he offered.

Amber shook her head. "No," she said, the corners of her lips just the slightest bit upturned. Her eyes sharpened and her expression changed immediately to one of pure determination as she cried, "Rollout, now!"

Sneasel stood his ground and narrowed his gaze. The sentret leapt with paws outstretched, and as Terry landed on the ground, he tucked his body into a neat little ball that went hurtling towards the dark type, kicking up dust as it went.

Sneasel flung himself out of the way acrobatically, just seconds before Terry would have hit head-on. It was almost mocking, the way Sneasel grinned and bore his red glare right into Amber's eyes. It was like piercing a person to the soul.

The girl shuddered, and Elliot smiled knowingly. "Sneasel's fast as lightning; it'll take more than that."

Terry uncurled himself and flicked his body into the air, pushing off from the ground with his strong tail.

"Stupid Sneasel," Amber growled. "Attack from the air, Terry!"

Sneasel swiftly looked up. The sentret was falling from the sky, his tail dragging behind him like the trail of a shooting star. His eyes were fierce and his mouth tightly squeezed shut in concentration. He came hurtling powerfully down to the ground, but Sneasel merely had to raise his arm and bat the pokémon away as it drew near. It was almost effortless, and Sneasel held a cool composure. Terry skidded across the ground, managing to dig his toes into the dirt to stay balanced. He stood up and panted, his legs wobbling slightly beneath him.

_Decision time,_ thought Elliot. _Sneasel would fight to the death if I let him, and Amber's showing no signs of giving in yet._

For a moment the battle paused as Terry regained his breath, but then… _Riiip!_ Sneasel tore across Terry's belly, his claws raking a deep set of cuts into the pokémon.

Amber winced and lightly touched where Sneasel had given her a matching set.

_That's it. I need to end it._ Elliot grabbed the pokéball and pointed it at Sneasel.

"Sneasel, return," he said, and the pokémon was gone in a flash.

Amber tried to protest, but all she could do was splutter. Terry sat at her feet, his tail between his legs as he inhaled deeply. Amber stared at Elliot questioningly.

"I had to," he explained, "for Terry's sake."

Her eyes didn't flare up in anger, nor did they begin to pour out the waterworks. Elliot thought he might have made a breakthrough, but then… "Screw you."

It was said so calmly and with such an air of indifference that Elliot questioned if those were the words at all. _Oh well, it could have been worse,_ he shrugged, fetching his bag.

In silence, they walked solemnly through the hills. Elliot held the map and guided the way to Larkspire City, and Amber trudged along several paces behind. Not a word was said of the battle, or indeed of anything, until they reached the cobblestone streets. As they entered the city's official limits, there was a sign marking the way.

_Welcome to Larkspire: the historic city of artisans._


	6. The Squirtle Trainer

**A/N:** Haha, the last chapter was so well received!

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><p>The city of artisans was almost magical in the evenings when all the lanterns in the streets lit up, casting jewelled light across the antique shop windows. It was like walking through a portal and emerging a whole century into the past. Stars twinkled overhead, clear as in the mountains for the lack of pollution, and every person walking the streets looked distinctly unique.<p>

A lone natu hopped around a corner, fast moving amid the relaxed atmosphere of the city.

Amber spotted it and reacted immediately. "Go, Terry!" She flung the pokéball fast from her hand. It collided with the stone wall and burst open.

The natu stood stationary. Its large eyes shone red. Terry seized up, even though no contact had been made.

"What did-

"Natu are psychic," Elliot said quickly. "You need to watch out."

Amber screwed up her face in annoyance. "Return, and go, Poppy."

The bubasaur emerged at a run and head butted the natu before it had time to respond. The small bird toppled and flapped its brightly coloured wings. Poppy wrapped her vines around the natu's feet, preventing it from moving. Then, she squeezed the bulb on her back. Out of it shot an array of spores that fell like snowflakes over the alleyway. When the natu inhaled them, its movements slowed and it became drowsy.

"Wow," Amber said, dumbfounded.

"Just throw a pokéball before it wakes up!"

She snapped back to reality. "Oh, right."

The natu was small, but as a stunned target, it wasn't hard to hit. The pokémon was caught.

Amber hesitantly edged over and picked it up. She rolled the pokéball in her palm, checking it was shut fast. "It worked!" she gasped. "I did it!" Poppy nudged her leg defiantly. "No," Amber said, "_We_ did it. Thanks a bunch, Poppy. If only you battled like that all the time we might actually win against trainers."

Elliot and Poppy exchanged glances. _Just when I thought we may have had a breakthrough…_

It took a few days to explore the city. As well as the endless gift shops and markets, the city held an ancient pagoda where ghost pokémon roamed freely by nightfall.

Meanwhile, Amber had been training her pokémon continuously, battling against any stray wild pokémon and the occasional weak trainer who happened to be passing by with their rattata or pidgey. After her first victory, she was ecstatic, and swung Poppy around in her arms. When she put the pokémon on the floor, Poppy stumbled and collapsed as if drunk.

It was on the third day as they retired to the pokémon centre for the evening that she saw him.

A young boy with chesnut hair walked up to the reception desk. "Hello, can you take a look at my squirtle please?"

Amber spied him. She'd found her target.

"You!" she cried, pointing a finger accusatorially at the boy.

He looked terrified, like a nidoran in headlights. "Me? What have I done?" he said in a mouse-like whisper.

Amber stomped over to him. "I'll tell you what you did. You stole the squirtle I wanted!"

"Amber, he didn't steal-

"Shut up!" she snapped at Elliot, and turned to the boy. "Now… I wanted that squirtle really badly and I told my grandpa to save it for me. But then you came along and took it, didn't you?"

Everyone in the pokémon centre lobby was watching now. The two children stood in the centre, Amber unashamedly jabbing the boy in the chest with an extended finger. His face was bright red as he looked around the floor at Amber's feet, waiting for a hole to open up at any moment and swallow him deep into the ground.

"I'll battle you for it!" Amber demanded. "Winner keeps the squirtle." And then she turned around, leaving the boy clasping his hands together for dear life.

The battle commenced the next day as soon as Amber set eyes upon the boy. They were in the street, just outside the pokémon centre. He panicked and dropped his pokéball; he had clearly been trying to avoid her, but was now out of luck.

"Okay Shelly boy, you've got to try extra hard, just this once," he whispered as he knelt down to retrieve his pokéball. He threw it meekly onto the pavement.

The blue turtle appeared proudly waving his forelegs in the air. "Squirtle squirt!"

Amber smiled. "Poppy, this is your battle."

When the bulbasaur appeared, the boy chewed nervously on his fingernails. Poppy looked up at him and cocked her head, confused as to why he seemed so terrified. Nevertheless, she was speedier by a fraction of a second and got the first attack.

"Tackle!" cried Amber as Poppy slammed head-first into the squirtle – 'Shelly', he had called him. Shelly flew backwards and slid across the ground, stopping at his trainer's feet.

"Come on Shelly, use bubble!"

Shelly bounced back quickly. The bubbles that foamed out of his mouth clustered around Poppy and stopped her briefly in her tracks. It wasn't much, but it bought them enough time for Shelly to counter with a tackle attack of his own.

Poppy grimaced when it hit and stretched out her vines. She twisted them around Shelly's legs to stop him moving, and then ran up for another tackle.

"Withdraw now!" cried the boy, and the squirtle drew into his shell just before Poppy hit. Poppy collided with the shell and sent it spinning rapidly across the street, but Shelly emerged unharmed. The trainer chuckled quietly.

Amber growled. "Try again!" she demanded, and Poppy aimed another attack. Shelly did the same thing too – every time Poppy went to attack, he retreated into his shell to emerge unharmed. It was a good strategy – whilst Poppy tired herself out, the shell was being used as a defensive shield.

The grass pokémon was breathing heavily. They needed a new strategy; straightforward attacking wouldn't work. "Maybe… Poppy, use stun spore," cried Amber.

The spores scattered around the street and once again, Shelly withdrew. However, the spores were still in the air when he emerged, and, once inhaled, his movements became slow and unsteady.

"Great – now he can't retreat as fast. Use leech seed!"

Poppy's bulb wobbled. She aimed a seed out of the top of it, which flew right towards the squirtle. Shelly tried, but he could not withdraw fully into his shell before it hit. The seed planted itself onto his skin and ingrained itself to begin sucking energy from the pokémon. A huge, excitable grin spread across Amber's lips.

"Shelly, use tackle, just try!" begged the trainer, but Shelly could only move at a slow speed. Running was out of the question.

Poppy ended the battle with a final tackle attack of her own, which hit Shelly's skin. The turtle was dazed when he landed on his back, and could not get back to his feet. Shelly's trainer was on the verge of tears.

Amber, however, could not have been happier. "Yes, I won!" she cried, leaping joyously into the air. She skipped over to the boy and extended her hand. He shook it, but Amber broke contact. "No, you're forgetting something. I said I wanted the squirtle if I won."

The boy's eyes widened. She was being serious. He flung his hands up to his face and sobbed loudly. "I can't! I don't have any other pokémon!"

Elliot grabbed each of them by the shoulder and pulled the kids apart. "This is ridiculous. Amber – you can't just demand to have someone else's pokémon. And you, kid – I'm sorry, I don't know your name-

"My name's Ryan," the boy wept.

"Ryan – whatever – don't take her so seriously. If she took your squirtle, I'd have the police onto her." He slapped the boy on the back and Ryan flinched nervously. "Keep working at it. You'll be a better trainer with practice."

Ryan sniffled and nodded. "Thanks."

He turned to Amber and said nothing.

"I'm not a criminal," she pouted. "I just wanted a squirtle and I did tell him before…"

They walked side by side along the streets. Craft shops, caricaturists, puppet shows and ventriloquists were a common sight in Larkspire. But one building in particular caught Amber's attention.

She gasped in awe as she looked up at it; nailed just above the doors was a sign saying 'Larkspire Pokémon Gym', and beneath that, a notice proudly stating, 'Accepting all challengers'.

"That's it! I'm going to challenge the gym."

_Oh dear lord…_ Elliot shut his eyes and clenched his lips together. _So she's beaten a few trainers. But so what? She tried to steal that kid's squirtle – there's no way she's ready for this! However…_ he smiled knowingly just as Amber barged in front of him and burst through the doors. _It might teach her that being a trainer is a lot harder than she thinks._

Coming from the bright daylight, the room was dark and shadowy. "Hello?" Amber called nervously.

Two figures emerged from the backroom and lights flicked on overhead. "Ooh, challengers!" laughed one of them – a plump woman with short, curly black hair who appeared to be in her late twenties.

She smiled at Amber. "Don't be so nervous, it'll be fun!"

"Thanks…" Amber croaked.

"First gym battle, missy?"

A nod. Elliot raised an eyebrow. _Any other time, she'd probably slap you for calling her 'missy'._

"Well I'll make you a deal. Since it's your first time, I'll let you use three pokémon against my one. How's that?"

Amber stared blankly in disbelief.

The gym leader laughed. She took one pokéball from her waist and spun it on her fingertip. "Don't worry – I've got all the pokémon I'll ever need right here."

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><p><strong>AN:** Ooh... Any guesses as to what Amber's up against?


	7. The Abnormal Gym

**A/N:** Sorry if I confused anyone by saying at the end of the last chapter that two people entered the gym. One is the leader and the other, the referee.

There's also a poll on my profile page about this story, so please take a look.

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><p><em>This had better be good if she's only using one pokémon,<em> Elliot thought as he watched from the sidelines, _unless she's just trying to unnerve Amber or something…_

"A one-on-three battle between Norma, the gym leader of Larkspire City, and the challenger, Amber Hawthorne from Acacia Town. The challenger may substitute pokémon as often as they choose. Whenever any pokémon is unable to battle, their trainer loses the match." The referee waved her flags in the air and the battle became official.

"Go, Poppy!"

The bulbasaur appeared and Norma threw her pokéball too.

"Huh?"

For a second, Elliot looked as confused as Amber. _What the…_ and then he twigged. _Ha! That's brilliant! Can't wait to see this one!_

It was a lump of coal. Not a pokémon – not even a rock type – just a bog standard lump of black charcoal, and Norma seemed to be deadly serious about battling with it. She grinned as if to say, 'Look at my totally awesome fighting machine!' or something like that. But it was just a rock.

Amber squinted. Was she missing something? If it was really what it looked like, then she was battling an insane gym leader.

There was silence, and Norma just waited patiently.

"Err, Poppy? I want you to tackle that… thing. Okay? Send it flying."

Poppy nodded unsurely, but broke into a gentle run nonetheless. She collided with the rock and to her surprise, it hurtled backwards. It wasn't heavy at all! Poppy blinked and looked around the room, puzzled. They had all seen the coal fly and hit the ground, but now it was nowhere to be seen!

Norma chuckled. "Tackle it back."

Then, out of nowhere, something charged into Poppy from behind and sent her tumbling. She jumped up and turned around. Much to her and Amber's surprise, she was faced with another bulbasaur!

"Hey – that's not fair!" cried Amber. "I thought you were only using one pokémon!"

"I am. Ditto, show yourself."

The bulbasaur with the strange face began to wobble. Its body disintegrated and reformed itself as a pink gelatinous blob.

_I was right all along,_ Elliot smirked. _Genius, but she should have just kept Amber in the dark and watched her panic._

Amber gasped. "Ditto?"

She took out her pokédex and pointed it at the creature. "Ditto can alter its genetic code at will. It changes into a rock to avoid being attacked whilst sleeping."

"I know that now," Amber muttered, and folded the pokédex away into her back pocket. "Poppy, use vine whip!"

Poppy flung out her vines towards the ditto. Before they had even reached the target, Ditto had become a bulbasaur and was batting the vines away with its own. Ditto matched the real bulbasaur blow for blow, and neither was making any significant advances against the other.

"Stun spore – slow it down!"

Spores puffed like fragments of glitter out of Poppy's bulb and drifted around the arena, including over Ditto. They showered the pokémon, and Ditto inhaled them. As Amber predicted, it became sluggish and its vines slowed. Poppy lashed inwards, managing one whip on the ditto's head.

"Regenerate," said Norma, completely unshaken.

Ditto gave up on the vines. It sucked them inwards and they melted together with the rest of its body. Out of the plasma, Ditto emerged again as a bulbasaur, albeit regenerated, with new nerves and new brain cells, free from paralysis. The pokémon was good as new.

Amber growled. "Return Poppy, and go, Terry. Scratch attack!"

The sentret burst energetically onto the scene. When he noticed Ditto disguised as a bulbasaur, he looked up at Amber for reassurance. She nodded, and he hesitantly performed a testing scrape across Ditto's body.

Ditto retaliated quickly with a vine which grabbed Terry by the tail, lifted him up into the air and spun him around in circles. Amber jumped to grab him as he went soaring in her direction, milliseconds after Ditto retracted the vine.

"Sentret!" Terry squeaked angrily from Amber's arms. There was no doubt now that this bulbasaur lookalike was the enemy, and Terry was dead set upon revenge. He broke into a run, then curled up into a ball and propelled himself towards Ditto. Ditto, however, jumped to the side and Terry went careering straight past.

Terry was about to uncurl himself and was slowing down, but Amber yelled, "Don't stop, Terry, keep rolling!"

He chirped in acknowledgement, and then picked up speed, turning a swift corner to avoid colliding with the wood panelled wall. Terry zoomed around the floor and the ditto-bulbasaur charged behind him, though could never catch up as Terry kept on accelerating. The chase went on for some time.

Then, Ditto slowed. Beads of sweat trickled down its scaly bulbasaur skin and out came the vines once more. Terry was still rolling around, gaining momentum and marking a path followed by Ditto's vines. The only problem was that Ditto had to constantly spin around just to see where Terry was headed next, and quickly became dizzy.

"Return!"

Ditto regained its breathing rate, but its movements were shaky.

Amber threw her third pokéball. "Natu, you're up next!"

Natu stood calm; a complete opposite to the rapid, jerky movements displayed by Terry. He faced Ditto, though his gaze appeared transfixed toward an indefinite spot in the distance.

The ditto-bulbasaur started to fade in an effort to transform. The deep, leafy greens that made up its bulb faded to a pallid, ill-looking mint colour. Its body, however, did not turn completely white and it retained its bulbasaur shape. Ditto inhaled a deep breath. It was considerably worn, and the failed transformation showed it.

The sight of Ditto did not faze him, and Natu attacked with perfect precision. Hopping on his rake-like red claws, he was faster than the exhausted creature trying to flee. An array of pecks assaulted Ditto, Natu's golden yellow beak pinching Ditto's skin rapidly. Ditto tried to run on its chunky bulbasaur legs, but did not get very far before Natu had skipped up from the rear and landed on its back. More precisely, Natu landed on the bulb. He dug his beak into the opening and tore at the leafy flesh, ripping off whole chunks from the ditto-bulbasaur's back.

Ditto twisted its head around and stretched up to bite Natu's talons, though a bulbasaur neck was not long enough. Next, it tried flailing around, running quickly for several metres and then stopping abruptly in the hope that Natu would topple forwards. It didn't happen – Natu clasped onto the decaying bulb tightly with his claws, and, being a tiny pokémon, it was easier for him to maintain his balance on Ditto's back.

"Come on Natu, use night shade!" Amber squealed excitedly, her heart pounding like a bass drum trapped inside her chest. She was doing it, she was _really_ doing it!

Much to Ditto's momentary relief, Natu skipped forward and landed on the floor, facing the bulbasaur body. Ditto skidded to a halt and stopped flailing.

It stared into Natu's eyes and Natu stared back, his blank look sucking Ditto mentally inwards. Ditto shook his head and began to thrash wildly again, and then its body started to hover above the floorboards. Ditto tried to look down, but could only move its pupils as the energy was drained from its body. Natu raised it high into the air – almost to the ceiling – and then turned around with a chirp as if nothing was happening. Ditto fell and impacted with a loud _thud_.

It was over. Ditto's body was falling to pieces. The ripped chunks of fleshy leaf and the animal that carried them regrouped together. Under a faint white glow, Ditto's original body reformed; pink, gelatinous, lifeless and spilt on the floor.

Amber craned her neck to get a better view. "Did I…?"

The referee flung her arm dramatically up into the air on Amber's side. "Ditto is unable to battle. The victory goes to the challenger."

Amber was almost bursting with excitement as she ran out of the gym, hopping and twirling about in the air. In her hand, she clasped a brooch in the shape of a hoothoot's face, with tiny holes removed for eyes – the mask badge. Its beak was sculpted intricately from marble and the brown and black metals representing its feathers glinted in the sunlight. Pirouetting back to the pokémon centre – no doubt to boast to the other trainers – Amber didn't notice that Elliot was not tagging along behind.

He had hung back in the gym and had spoken briefly with Norma about the battle before heading out. 'Anything but normal' was how she'd described her pokémon type speciality.

Strolling leisurely back to the pokémon centre, Elliot glanced through the windows of the curiosity shops. Outside of one stood a girl about his age, who clasped a smoochum tightly in her arms. She smiled meekly at him, and he tried just to speed up and hurry past.

"Good afternoon." He stopped and turned. There it was again. But the girl wasn't moving her lips.

She giggled and beckoned him towards her. "Any souvenirs from Larkspire for you?" He could see now she was using the smoochum as part of a ventriloquist act, probably designed to attract attention and draw unsuspecting customers to her shop. It had worked, and when he entered behind her, a silver bell jingled above the wooden doorframe.

It looked like a junk shop at first sight, the mismatched shelves littered with little trinkets and toys. However, when a shopper looked closely, they could see the tiny details carved into the wooden models and the dolls sewn beautifully to the exact stitch.

The girl squeezed behind the shop assistant's counter and watched intently as he browsed the shelves and rummaged through large wicker baskets of craftwork.

Elliot let out a quiet laugh. _This is perfect!_

He sat the small, cloth doll on his palm. It was probably intended as a child's plaything, but so what? If anyone asked, it was a souvenir.

"Thanks, have a nice day," said the young woman, barely moving her lips, when he paid for the handiwork. Whether she continued watching him blankly or became preoccupied with sorting his change into the cash register, he did not know. What he did know, however, was that if she did see him casually grabbing a handful of safety pins on his way out, she pretended not to have done.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So were you expecting that? A lot of people thought it'd be ghosts, which on reflection, I can understand. I didn't really take into account the whole atmosphere of the gym and it wasn't meant to be a clue as such. The closest guess was a Mr. Mime, because of the street performers. That was sort of my idea behind using Ditto – that it's a 'fun' pokémon that would be a good performer and joker.

I've also realised how difficult it is to write a gym battle. This is the first chapter I had any difficulty in writing, purely because of the long battle scene. I hope it was decent.

As for the scene towards the end, the shopkeeper/ventriloquist girl is meant to be Sun and Moon Entity's OC. I don't feel I did the character justice because she's so interesting and unique that I couldn't really capture her essence in a few paragraphs. But I wanted to write that scene anyway, as part of Elliot starting to get some sort of 'revenge' on Amber.


	8. A Detour North

**A/N: **This is a long chapter, and I was considering splitting it up into two halves, with the first section called 'Thunderstorm in the Moors' and the second, 'A Detour North'. But they'd have been short chapters. It took a while to write, but I enjoyed it. I'm also glad that people think the gym battle in the last chapter was done alright. As usual, reviews are nice and I like to know what people think. Thanks to anyone who voted on the poll in my profile too (you can still vote if you haven't already, since it's more to get opinions rather than decide the actual plot of the story).

* * *

><p>There was no point hanging about in Larkspire, not after the gym battle had gone so… unexpectedly. <em>A fluke if I ever saw one,<em> Elliot scoffed, as Amber adjusted the position of the mask badge on her hoodie for the umpteenth time.

They were making their way across flat, upland plains. The ground was hard and jagged beneath their feet and rocky outcrops rose up dramatically into the air. Storm clouds were brewing overhead, though Amber was too preoccupied with her badge to have noticed.

The wind picked up and colonies of sandshrew retreated to their burrows to be replaced by an abundance of electric types. A flaaffy and mareep gazed up at the thunder clouds, their cotton wool coats sparking with static, and a colony of pikachu darted like lightning incarnate across the savannah.

"What was that?" Amber gasped, her hands dropping from the metallic badge on her chest.

A huge roar emanated from the cumulonimbus blanket above them and rain began to pound down on the ground in torrents, digging up the cracked soil with every droplet.

A bright white flash in the distance blinded them. Elliot shielded his eyes, and saw the lightning bolt in the crash downwards and strike the spire of a tall, metal structure only visible on the horizon under the light of the storm. Above them, sparks rocketed between clouds, decorating the moody sky with ribbons of flashing white light.

A squawk of terror. They looked up. Soaring directly over head was a huge metal bird with wings of red-tinted steel.

Amber stared, transfixed. "Wow…"

The thunder rattled directly above their heads.

"Move!" cried Elliot, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her forcefully out of the open plain. They both tripped under his speed and slid face-downwards in the muck.

A lightning bolt collided just a hundred metres away, charring the ground to ash.

Amber spluttered, the air knocked out of her lungs.

Elliot jerked her upright. "I don't care what you say, we _need_ shelter."

Luckily, they found it. Carved by the elements into the side of a monolith was a tiny crevice. It was small, but just large enough for the two to sit inside if they squeezed their legs to their chests.

Elliot sat with his back pressed up against the wall, a particularly sharp lump digging into his spine through his damp shirt. He couldn't sit at full height and his head was hanging over his knees, dark hair drip-drying onto his goosepimply skin. He shut his eyes and listened to the storm. They wouldn't be much use open anyway, for his glasses kept gathering the raindrops which fell from his fringe.

Opposite him, Amber kept fidgeting. He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek every time she unwittingly kicked him in the shin with her mud-splattered boots. She folded her arms and kept looking in different directions, trying to find one where she wouldn't see Elliot.

How long they were in there, they had no idea, as time seemed to melt into an endless tirade of thunder, lightning and rain. It must have been a while though, as Amber eventually settled with her head resting on folded arms in half-sleep.

Elliot shuffled his way outside as soon as the storm appeared to be cooling off. When he stood, his back ached from the needle-like rocks and his rear-end felt painfully numb. He took a step and put his arms out at his sides to steady himself on his tingling legs and feet. Grey clouds covered the route instead of black, and the blue sky broke through in patches, shining down on the sodden ground like a shimmering spotlight. The rain was only coming down in light splashes, and the droplets landed as a fine mist on his clothing rather than breaking through to the skin.

He stretched his thin arms into the air, tugging at his back muscles. It was elation, just being able to move after what was probably hours stuck inside a cramped little cave. The ground was slushy in places, and when he moved, mud stuck to his bright red shoes. He clambered up the rock from which the cave was formed. On reaching the top, he flung his arms out sideways and felt the wind rush through his hair.

_Freedom!_

"Skaaarrrr!"

There it was again – the screech of big metal bird, only this time it was behind him and with its beak wide open to catch its prey!

Elliot ducked, letting his body fall flat against the rock. The skarmory swooped low overhead, so close that the edges of its talons ripped out stray strands of his damp hair.

He began to panic and felt around his waist for a pokéball. "Go Zubat, supersonic attack!"

Zubat appeared and her sound waves assaulted the air around her, interfering with the hearing of any pokémon unlucky enough to be near. The skarmory passed through and grimaced as it dived through the air after the bat, its polished silver beak primed for attack. It widened its jaw and an array of jagged particles exited on its breath.

The mid-air battle picked up speed, each pokémon darting around the top of the rock to strike its opponent. Elliot was pushed this way and that by the gusts following each flying pokémon as they darted about. He found himself stumbling backwards and losing his footing. The sandstone beneath his muddy, slippery feet gave way and he tumbled back-first down the cliff face, gaining speed with every inch closer to the ground.

_**SPLAT!**_

The mud cushioned his fall, though now he was caked in the stuff. He groaned and touched his hip, which had taken much of the impact. It wasn't a particularly long fall and he was still in the danger zone created by the flying attackers. Neither was making much advancement.

_Time to change strategy._

"Zubat, return!" he cried from his awkward position on the ground. He held the pokéball up to the sky and Zubat retreated in a flash, startling the skarmory. The metal bird eyed Elliot suspiciously and began to plummet.

Elliot felt around his waist urgently, grabbing his other pokéball and releasing Sneasel. The skarmory came swooping down with its wings outstretched, their bladed edges aiming for pokémon and trainer. Elliot shut his eyes and braced himself, but Sneasel flung up his hardened claws to protect them from the attack.

A forceful wind as the bird passed overhead, and then it was over.

"Sorry, Sneasel"

Sneasel shrugged apathetically. His claws had taken the worst of the damage – one was sliced clean in two.

He jumped to his feet as the skarmory crested in the air. Grabbing Sneasel by the arm, Elliot started at a run back up to the top of the boulders.

They stood together at the top of the rock as partners in battle, savouring for a second the parting clouds in the distance and the vastness of the open plains. The sun filtered through the sky and skarmory twisted majestically, its wings catching the light. Then it spotted them and went straight in to attack.

Elliot screwed up his face in concentration as the skarmory drew nearer with each passing moment. "Now!" he roared, and Sneasel leapt up into the air just as skarmory passed over the rock. With a clash, Sneasel landed and gripped his claws tightly around the skarmory's back.

Sneasel grinned his malicious grin and held up his uninjured hand to the skarmory's eye. The skarmory blinked rapidly in alarm, the talons dangerously close to its eyeball.

"Icy wind!" Elliot yelled from the rock, his hands around his mouth like a megaphone.

It was perfect. Whilst it was thrashing around, the skarmory had created hundreds of weak wind currents behind its tail. All Sneasel had to do was exhale an icy cold breath and the wind turned into a localised hailstorm. The skarmory screeched and tried to land, but as it flew near to the rock, the vapour in the air condensed and froze on the coldness of its wings, trapping the pokémon in a thin layer of ice.

"Ultra ball, go!" cried the trainer, hurling a black and yellow pokéball at the descending, unstable skarmory. It tried to raise its wing and bat the ball away, but it couldn't move as freely as it would have liked. Sneasel leapt to the ground and the ball landed with a clink on the skarmory's back, flashed, and dropped a metre or so into the mud.

Elliot scrambled quickly down the rock face. The ball was sealed shut and Sneasel held it in his hand. The pokémon passed it to his friend, and Elliot gave his thanks. Walking back to the cavern together, Elliot threw and caught the ball playfully in his palm. Some of the mud span off as it rotated, splashing him in the face.

"You look a sight," remarked Amber darkly as he turned the corner and came into full view of the cavern entrance. She shut her pokédex and dropped it on her lap.

"What were you reading about?"

"Trying to find out which pokémon I need to catch to win the next gym battle. I know I won the last one – that was easy – but I bet the others will be harder, and with Poppy and that lot…" her voice trailed off awkwardly.

Elliot ignored her. "Want to go for a fly?"

Amber raised an eyebrow. Was he serious? He was dripping in mud and had the appearance of an insane man who she wouldn't have trusted with a pokéball.

Elliot smirked and held the ultra ball so that its yellow colour showed through. Amber glanced at it briefly. Though she tried not to show it, it was obvious she was intrigued.

"What did you catch?" she asked, her voice faltering as she struggled not to show her excitement.

"See for yourself."

The ball opened and the skarmory appeared, making Amber blink in surprise. "That bird from earlier," she gasped, reaching out to the skarmory's metal wings. She touched them gently. They felt cold and solid against her skin and were as rough as sandpaper.

"I'll trade you for it," she said urgently. "Here – have Poppy."

Elliot took one look at the pokéball lying on her outstretched palm. "No deal." He turned his head and looked away from her, the vast landscape stretching out before his eyes. A city was in view, but it'd still take some time before they got there. And besides, he wasn't planning on going that way.

Amber shot a dirty look at him, which he didn't seem to acknowledge. "I need it for my gym battle," she muttered resentfully. "Poppy's useless compared to _that_. I don't know why you like her so much if she can't fight properly."

"Come on Skar, can you fly for me?" Elliot turned to the pokémon, completely ignoring Amber.

Skarmory squawked and lowered his body, allowing Elliot to jump onto his back. "You coming, Amber? Unless you want to stay here on your own."

Disgruntled, Amber dragged herself to her feet and slid on in front of Elliot. She shuffled her position exaggeratedly, pushing Elliot's thighs up against the steel wings. He bit his lip as the blades pressed through his shorts. He tried to shift his position, but smiled when he felt a lump in his pocket. _The doll…_ he smirked, and it gave him the motivation to hold his tongue.

Amber gripped tightly around Skarmory's slim neck with a pressure that would have strangled any other pokémon.

Elliot took no notice and ordered, "Let's go!"

Skarmory beat his wings up and down, creating lift beneath them that caused the mud to ripple. His whole body began to vibrate for a few seconds, and the heavy up-and-down motion as he ran on his steel claws jolted the trainers around roughly, the wings rubbing painfully now on Elliot's leg. Skarmory charged and flapped, and then they were up in the air. The vibration stopped and the only force on them came from the cool wind as it rushed past their faces. Skarmory was fast; it was like being aboard a tiny personal airplane as he glided, wings outstretched to catch the breeze.

From the sky, the scenery was even more beautiful. The rock fixtures became weathered stones on a tiny beach of sand and mud, and the whole picture zoomed out to show the mountains to the south-east and a city spewing smoke to the south-west.

"Turn around!" Elliot yelled over the roaring of the jet stream winds. Skarmory hooted and obeyed, tilting sideways to swiftly swoop around and face north.

Amber kicked Elliot sternly in the shin and he grimaced. "What are you doing?" she shrieked. "We're meant to be going south!"

"New plans," he replied through gritted teeth. "There's a gym here too so don't worry yourself! Skar – go towards the coast!"

Skarmory swooped downwards and Amber squealed in what was either intense delight or fear – perhaps a mixture of the two, for the adrenaline rushing through their blood could have produced either.

The tiny details of the farmland surrounding Thistlebury Town and the individual oak trees of the woodland covering the peninsula made themselves clear; the blades of windmills rotating dutifully and hordes of miltank filling the green fields.

They flew to the east, following the shoreline, and the landscape changed dramatically. The woodlands and farms were replaced by railways and concrete parks. The trees switched from being the central point of focus to a bane on the people's manufactured landscape – logged and toppled to make way for buildings. The buildings themselves didn't look like little toys anymore either, for they rose high into the sky.

"There!" Elliot directed, thrusting his hand over Amber's tense shoulder.

Skarmory ducked his head and spiralled downwards aerodynamically. It was like freefall. They gripped the bird's neck for dear life as they plummeted past the windows, a businessman frowning at the unusual sight.

Skarmory hit the ground with a _thud_ and his claws clattered along the pavement before slowing to a stop. Around them, pedestrians turned their heads and stared briefly before continuing with their day-to-day lives.

Elliot took a sharp intake of breath and began to laugh aloud in exhilaration. "That was brilliant!" he cried, running a hand through his windswept hair. He patted Skarmory on the head and disembarked. The automatic pokémon centre doors opened at his presence.

–

It was that night that he did it, lying awake in bed, long after Amber, or indeed any other trainer staying in the dormitory had fallen asleep. He held the doll in one hand and a pin in the other. Gently, he traced across the doll's felt thigh the patterns cut into his own legs by Skarmory's wings. It was quite relaxing. He shuffled himself to an upright position, and, holding the doll up to the light of the moon and the city shining in through the window above his bed, he muttered in a barely audible whisper, "One for jealousy," and stabbed the pin directly through the cloth girl's heart.


	9. Exploring the Metropolis

**A/N:** I'm still not too sure about this chapter. I don't feel like it's as exciting as some of the others, but it's a necessary build-up to an interesting (and hopefully exciting) plotline. Credit for the character of Violet goes to Positive Energy, though I did change her pokémon.

* * *

><p>The first thing Amber did on waking in Helios City was dash to the gym. It was on the seafront, a short walk or an even shorter run away from the pokémon centre where they stayed for the night in return for doing chores. The crystal blue waves crashed melodically against the concrete sea walls separating the city from nature. A loud hoot of a steamboat as it pulled off from the harbour just along the promenade broke the noise of the constant patting of footsteps along the pavement, and the concrete buildings here were shorter than but still as pristine as those inland, towering perhaps two or three storeys rather than eight or twenty.<p>

"Closed?" Amber exclaimed loudly, startling a few passers-by. "How can a gym be closed? Don't they get challengers?"

But it was true. The gym was closed, and an 'opening hours' notice covering the tiny window set into the solid steel door confirmed it.

"That's not fair!" she protested at the bolted-shut door. "What kind of gym is this?"

Other than stares and mutterings of disgruntlement as she pounded her fists of rage at the door, Amber got no answer. She sulked, moped, and resigned herself to traipsing along the boulevard at a pace comparable to a slugma, scuffing her feet on the hard floor and irritating hurried businessmen even further.

–

Elliot, meanwhile, had found his way to a place signposted as 'Magnolia Park', where trainers strolled and relaxed with their pokémon. It was a pleasant place – a little too sterile for his tastes, mind, with manicured lawns and carefully positioned flowerbeds between the neatly paved pathways along which clean, wooden benches sat a repetition of trainers with the likes of clefairy and marill on their laps. Each of them briefly paused their grooming of their precious darlings and glanced upwards at the outsider as he walked past; he clearly did not understand the etiquette of this place.

_Bunch of snobs,_ he scoffed as he walked promptly with Zubat hovering alongside his head.

Just up ahead past the vaporeon fountain, a girl was walking towards him, eliciting almost as many curious glances – not because of her pokémon, but rather because she wore a biker's leather jacket and a short, dyed, choppy hairstyle at odds with the rest of the women in the park. He continued as normal, and when they crossed paths, their eyes met.

"You might blend in better with a cuter pokémon," she said as she passed by.

Elliot stopped and snapped, "What do you suggest – my sneasel who attacks everyone on sight?"

The young woman giggled. "I wouldn't normally come here either," she said quietly, her vulpix slinking smoothly around her ankles, "but I've been sent to look for someone." Her blue eyes narrowed and she scanned the park like a ninja. "All these people look the same though!"

Elliot nodded and sat down on the edge of the fountain, the clean water splashing out of the stone vaporeon's mouth and the spray lightly brushing the back of his neck.

"Can't see them at all," the girl sighed and perched beside him, the tightly stretched fabric of her jeans rubbing against his hand.

Elliot instinctively leant away slightly and shuffled his body into enough space.

"Sorry, I didn't get your name?" she turned to him and smiled chirpily.

"Elliot."

"I'm Violet, nice to meet you!" She grabbed his hand with her own tanned one and shook a vigorous handshake. "How about I show you around the city?"

"But don't you have-

"Ah forget it! I can't find the guy. Someone else will sort it out." And she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him along the pathway and out of the park at a run.

–

"Hey, are you training to fight Wayne too?"

Amber turned. Across the busy street, a group of children roughly her own age called to her. They appeared to be good friends, and around them were several pokémon. Ducking and dodging between the adults, Amber manoeuvred her way across the street to join the others.

"If he's the gym leader, then yes. I've already got a mask badge!" she boasted, puffing out her chest where the metallic hoothoot likeness gleamed against her green hoodie.

A boy just a bit taller than her with a charmeleon laughed loudly. "I've got _three_ badges!"

It was a dangerous move.

"If you think you're so tough then battle me and prove it!" Amber snapped, making the group of kids wince in shock and inch backwards from the spit flying from her mouth.

Not one to back down, the boy looked down on Amber from his hazel eyes and said, "You'll be sorry!" It only riled her up even more.

–

The first stop on Violet's whirlwind tour was a huge, prestigious casino where Elliot reluctantly placed a minimal bet on a roulette table, following much encouragement from his tour guide. "Come on Eli, do it for me", she said, "and if you do win, I'll double it."

He didn't. The ball landed on red thirty-six, and made a briefcase-toting businessman barely older than himself very happy indeed. The man whooped and whimsically flung his arms into the air as the tower of chips resembling a Helios skyscraper itself was pushed over to him.

Next, they hit a department store where Elliot was more than happy to browse for books he couldn't afford to carry. Violet was equally happy to try on clothes all day, but Elliot soon got bored. The first time she saw him check his black digital wristwatch and roll his eyes at the fact that only half an hour had passed in the clothes store, she immediately shoved her pile of garments back on the shelf and insisted on buying them both drinks at a café. As they sat facing each other, sipping from warm cups, Elliot couldn't help but wonder, _What does she want from me?_

_–_

Across the city on one of the many piers, Amber's battle with the charmeleon trainer was well under way. His prime fighter was facing Amber's sentret, who was rolling about like crazy over the smooth concrete flooring, dodging the blast furnace of the charmeleon's flamethrower. When Terry rolled into one tiny stray ember, his whole tail flared up, singed and blackened. The burn penetrated his entire body, working its way up through his fluffy fur coat and turning it black as tar.

"Stop!"

Amber turned.

Terry hopped from paw to paw, the pressure of his weight on his blistering skin too much to hold.

"Call it back," demanded the stern voice.

"Oh…" Amber's eyes flickered towards Terry, and, with an expression that may just have been guilt, she called the pokémon back to his pokéball.

–

Elliot and Violet were battling too. After their coffee, Violet's tour culminated in a return to the park where they had met, for a battle in protest to the gentile ladies and their fashionably manicured pokémon.

They were laughing throughout, and neither combatant took the match too seriously as Zubat rolled in the space above the vulpix's head, making her look like a confused airhead as she pounced whimsically at the bat, her body and tail flickering and bending in the air.

"Vulpix," Violet said through a stifled giggle, "use ember."

The tiny flames from Vulpix's mouth scattered in the air around Zubat like tiny lanterns which faded out and fizzled under the bat's leathery wings.

Elliot grinned. "You should move to Hoenn and become a co-ordinator!"

"Only if you come with me, babe," she joked flirtatiously, winking at him with her pale blue eyes.

Elliot nervously half-smiled. _I wish she wouldn't talk like that. _He decided it was probably best to ignore it and continued, "But this is a battle, so Zubat, use wing attack!"

Zubat swooped in low at Vulpix, her wings outstretched and muscles taut. She gained speed and slammed across the fox pokémon's back, catching her as she tried to run away. Vulpix fell forwards onto her knees and Zubat swerved around in the air to face her.

"Now bite," Elliot commanded, becoming more engrossed. It was the only way to distract himself from his new found 'friend' and her flirty habits.

When Zubat flew low over Vulpix, she bared her fangs. Granted, they were smaller than those of a male Zubat, but they did the job – digging deep through Vulpix's plush fur and into the skin. Vulpix winced and Zubat retreated back away from her.

Then, the bat began to glow. In the middle of the park with tens of eyes upon her, Zubat evolved.

–

The stern voice halting Amber belonged to a young woman a little older than Elliot; the kids looked up to her and shut up when she spoke.

"This," she began with the tone of a harsh schoolmarm older than her years, "is Pokémon Battle Club."

Amber raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. She stared back, her gaze not breaking from Amber's disdainful eyes.

"Here," she continued, "we train pokémon and prepare for battle. We do NOT fight until our pokémon cannot walk, young lady!"

Amber giggled and covered her rosy lips. The woman seemed to decide it was best to ignore her and paced the pier, her neat black shoes clipping and clopping against the concrete. She eyed each of the children one by one as they stood in a line before her, as if awaiting orders.

She turned again to Amber and knelt down. "We can train you, but _only_ if you are willing to train yourself first."

Amber mouthed the word 'what' to the girl standing like a soldier beside her. Was the woman her teacher? She made no sense!

"Here," she threw a bottle of medicine recklessly into Amber's arms. "Your sentret needs it. Hurry up and we can get on with training."

–

The battlers in the park stopped when Zubat evolved into Golbat. It was a success either way – Elliot had a new pokémon, they'd had a fun day out, made a new friend, and annoyed some prissy people in the park in the process of it all. _Helios is definitely my favourite place so far,_ Elliot smiled decisively.

"Here," Violet said, handing him a black business card. "Meet me at this bar tonight." Then she parted with a sly wink. _There it is again – that wink. What does it mean?_

She walked off casually, Vulpix sashaying by her side, and Elliot was left by the fountain, the thin card in hand. It read, 'The Murkrow's Nest' above an address printed formally in white on a black background. Now that he was alone, he became much more aware of the looks he was getting because of the huge blue bat following him around. He pocketed the card and left the park swiftly, with shifty eyes as if he had done something wrong. His plans for the night were still uncertain.


	10. The Murkrow's Nest

**A/N:** I'm surprised how well the last chapter went down with people, and this plot is only just getting started! As with the last few chapters, I've only just finished writing it before posting it up on here. I've checked through it and I just hope it's as good as chapters I've taken longer to proof read. Violet still belongs to Positive Energy.

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><p>Amber had not been around all day and Elliot was finally alone, enjoying a rare moment of peace and solitude in the pokémon centre dormitory with his books for company, still pondering the benefits of meeting Violet at the bar as opposed to immersing himself in 'Ancient Pokémon of the Deep'.<p>

Fascinating as the tales of fossil pokémon were, he couldn't tear his mind away from the idea that Violet was after something, and if she was – which she almost certainly was, he told himself – then his only chance to find out would be tonight.

–

Over on the coast, the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a golden glow over the rippling waves which pushed their way inwards and broke on the concrete sea wall. On a pier sticking out into the jostling waters, Amber had healed up her sentret's burn and proceeded with her training.

"If you plan on challenging the Helios City gym leader," their coach had told them, "you each must have at least five pokémon. If you plan on challenging him tonight… you need your pokémon ready by ten o'clock."

Amber gulped. She only had three, and the clock was ticking. Even the mention of 'ten o'clock at night' didn't incite her to frown in suspicion. Her eyes scanned the area in a panic, searching out any sign of movement that may indicate a pokémon.

The teacher cast her a bemused smile. "You'd better get searching." And she and the others left Amber to practise their pokémon's attacks and strategies further down the pier.

Two hours to catch two pokémon in a city where nature was elusive.

_Tick, tock, tick, tock…_

And she ran with no direction.

–

Elliot dashed hastily through the streets, clutching his map in one hand and pumping the other to the beat of the run. He took a wrong turning and came to a dead end faced by a wall declaring, 'Helios 4lyF', dripping in red paint like blood, tarred by the grime of the city. He checked over his shoulder nervously before backtracking. Another few streets. A faint growling sound had set him on edge, but he was relieved beyond belief to see that it was only a stray meowth prowling for loose change.

_Calm down Eli, you're overreacting,_ he reassured himself, wiping his shaggy hair, which stuck to his forehead with the moisture of cold sweat.

After a few more turns following a readjusted route, he found it. His shoulders sank and relief flooded his veins. He suddenly became aware of his red hot cheeks and cold fingertips, the map scrunched up but still readable. Before him, on the ground floor of a murky tower block that could have been a run-down apartment complex, purple neon lighting flashed in the name of 'The Murkrow's Nest', and, standing guard over the entrance, the neon murkrow itself, lifting and lowering its wing with the flickering of the lights.

–

Amber didn't have time to savour the delights of arcade games positioned purposefully along the popular seafront boulevard, nor did she have the time to humour a man trying to sell her something she didn't need. She wriggled her small body free from the grasp of a guard who had asked if she was lost and charged like a speeding bullet down the highway through clusters of young women on their way to a good night out. She had no idea where she was going or how she would get there, only a one-track mind set firmly on 'pokémon'.

–

He didn't recognise anyone in the dimly-lit, smoky atmosphere of The Murkrow's Nest. The bar was full of rogueish sorts, showing their tattoos and bulging biceps in tank tops and ripped denim. _Great, so these are Violet's sort of people…_ Elliot thought glumly as he positioned himself atop a bar stool and ordered a cheap drink. They didn't have a lot to offer, but he bought a drink and nursed it to avoid standing out any more. From the corner of his eye, he passively observed a game of pool which quickly became violent. The men brandishing the cues had to be ejected from the bar rather forcefully: grabbed by the scruff of their thick necks and thrown out of the door. Elliot nervously bit on his knuckles and stared at his untouched drink. Condensation was trickling down the bottle's neck like the sweat running down his own. _Come on, Violet, you promised me! Please get here!_

"Heh, look at this little weed!" grunted a thick voice from behind his ears.

_Please ignore me, just leave me alone, I'm not causing trouble, I'm not doing any harm, just please for the love of god don't try anything!_

"Yeah, look at him, all scared and crying like!" laughed another voice, its owner's clothes giving off a distinct whiff of alcohol.

_Shut up – I am NOT crying, you idiots! Oh god, I'm only gonna draw more attention to myself now!_

"Oi!"

Elliot opened his eyes and blinked several times to clear away the spots. He suddenly became aware that had been hunched over the bar, hands pressed into the sides of his head in a futile attempt to block out the noise.

"V- Violet?"

"That's right," she replied cheerfully. "I'm sorry; I really shouldn't have made you come to this place."

Elliot looked up glumly at her and took back all his resentful thoughts about her being late to meet him. Her presence in a barmaid's uniform was the most welcome sight he'd seen all night.

"Elliot," she said, "There's some people I want to introduce you to."

–

She had an hour and a half, and the passing of the seconds seemed to be happening in fast motion.

"Hey, you'll want to watch where you're going miss," chuckled a large man hauling a large net off a fishing trawler. He was tugging it backwards, and Amber almost ran straight into it. She skidded to a halt, her boots gripping hard on the concrete.

"Please," she panted, "I need a pokémon as soon as possible – what have you caught?" She leapt onto the fishing net, pulling herself up over the scramble of water pokémon with her claw-like fingers.

The fisherman dropped the net at its mouth and ran to grab Amber around the waist, pulling her down. Amber elbowed him in the face, it barely registering that the pokémon were tumbling out of the net and into the street. Those that could were running for their lives.

"Get off me!" she screeched at the top of her lungs.

–

Violet introduced him to a group of men standing around a quiet corner of the room, enjoying a quiet, civilised evening. They were more than happy to welcome Violet into their group, and one of them gripped Elliot's shoulder a little too firmly for his liking, though it was a friendly gesture. The man smiled at him; he was of average height and average build, with tightly cropped brown hair and forgettable features that could get lost in any crowd.

"Elliot, Opal. Opal, Elliot," Violet said hastily before rushing off to collect empty beer bottles.

Elliot was about to protest when the man known as 'Opal' held a finger to his lip and quickly said, "Let me explain… 'Opal' is a code name. For security reasons."

Elliot nodded, terrified.

The man backed away and Elliot relaxed his tensed shoulders.

"I don't mean to be a threat," he said, relaxing back against the wall. Opal spoke in a smooth, long drawl. "Tell me: What do you think of Team Rocket?"

_Team Rocket disbanded ages ago in Johto. Are they still around?_

Elliot glanced at each of the men standing around him in turn. They were all taller, and could all have easily beaten him up if they so desired.

"I uh… Well – I mean…" he stuttered. He cleared his throat. The men stood waiting, and Opal smiled inquiringly. "Well… I think that if you're a strong trainer – strong enough to defend yourself I mean – you've got no need to worry about them." He quickly realised what he had blurted out and added, "I mean – as long as you stay out of their way and that. Well, if they leave me alone I'm not particularly bothered."

Opal just smiled. He said nothing, and Elliot's could feel his own heartbeat.

A moment went by that felt like an hour before Opal said, "Good…" though he didn't really seem like he cared at all what answer Elliot had given at all. What he wanted to know, and what he asked with purpose, was, "Do you think you're strong enough to stand up to them? Hypothetically speaking, of course…"

Elliot shuffled and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Because if you are…," Opal mused, his fingertip pressed tightly against his smooth chin, "Then I have a proposition for you, young man."

Elliot gulped. _A proposition? Oh god… If he dares try anything dodgy…_

"I suppose you're wondering… what it is, hmm?" he whispered, leaning into Elliot's face. Opal spoke in a smooth, drawn-out drawl, not unlike the hissing of an ekans.

Elliot nodded rapidly. _Ask him, you idiot, just ask him! Ask him if he's in Team Rocket!_

"Are you…" but he couldn't continue. His voice grew weak and frail after those two words.

"Am I what?" Opal asked innocently.

"Team…" Elliot stammered.

"…Rocket?" Opal finished.

Elliot nodded quickly.

Opal stifled a laugh. "You think I'm in Team Rocket? You couldn't be more wrong!" He spoke loudly, so that the whole bar could hear him. Several other conversations in close proximity fell silent

Opal looked around frantically. "I said I'm _not_ in Team Rocket, okay? Nothing to see here!" The patrons returned to their rowdy chatter.

They conversed for a while longer and Opal explained to Elliot about their organisation. Despite his eccentricities, he was a friendly man who told a tale of how he and several close friends had banded together to combat a Team Rocket scheme back in the day, and had reformed on hearing rumours of certain ex-Team Rocket members who were still at large, despite the team's separation.

"Your friend Violet is a member too," he said, leaning into Elliot's ear. They silently watched her; she was standing behind the bar, mixing drinks for a crowd of raucous bikers who were jeering and whistling at her. She kept an impeccable sense of coolness.

"She's a talent scout, that girl is," he continued. "Got us some promising young trainers before and from what I've heard, she's onto something again."

Elliot frowned. "You don't mean me?"

"Exactly!" Opal grinned, grabbing Elliot's shoulder in a friendly sort-of hug, which Elliot nervously shrugged off, letting Opal's arm drop to his side.

"And as I was saying," he continued, "if you are strong enough, we'd like to have you join up with us." He paused to let the thought linger. "I propose a battle between you and I."

Elliot panicked. _I didn't agree to any of this!_


	11. Opal's Warehouse

**A/N: **This chapter is far shorter than any of the recent ones (yes, I'd have made it longer, but it felt right to end it where I ended it), but it's also my favourite chapter so far by a long way. You'll see why. I actually had at least ten different ideas in my head for how this battle would turn out and it was so hard to decide between them. Eventually, I just wrote, and this is what felt natural.

* * *

><p>"Alakazam."<p>

"Sneasel!"

Opal chuckled slyly. "Mach punch."

And Sneasel was down; winded, and slammed straight into the wall.

Elliot growled.

They were battling in the room above The Murkrow's Nest. Light from overhead permeated the dust and illuminated the sludgy film coating the metal flooring. It was difficult to move quickly, for the grime stuck like glue to the bottom of feet or shoes. Despite all this, Opal remained immaculate – his pinstriped grey suit could have been freshly laundered and his black shoes remained shiny.

"Pity," Opal tutted. "You'll want to become aware of these strategies if you're ever to face Team Rocket. Let's try another; Golduck, your turn."

Elliot recalled Sneasel without looking at his battered body. With a zealous throw, he sent out Skarmory.

"Interesting," whispered Opal, smiling quietly to himself. "Golduck, use hydro pump."

The cold water cannoned towards Skarmory. Skarmory lowered his head, narrowed his eyes and dived forward, stretching out his wings to land in a low-level glide. Behind him, the blast ricocheted off the peeling wall and water trickled and dripped downwards, filling the cold, metal floor with trails of intermingling water and oil that shone metallically where light filtered through the dust.

As soon as he landed, Skarmory reared up and attacked with swift, blowing metallic shards across the combat zone. Golduck reacted quickly, leaping into the air to avoid the splinters which darted beneath it. The duck stretched out its claws as it bounded towards Skarmory. It landed in a crouch, catlike at the bird's feet, and, instead of targeting his toughened body, Golduck went straight for the legs.

Skarmory kicked wildly, ripping Golduck from the sticky glue which held it to the ground, but Golduck hung on tight, preventing him from moving. He would fly, but the room was barely tall enough to glide, never mind get properly airborne.

"Do a close-range steel wing!" Elliot suggested, and Skarmory seemed to perk up. His wings shone in the light and hardened further, and, with sufficient energy gathered, he slashed the tips of his wings across Golduck's damp body, scathing the pokémon and weakening its grip. Skarmory broke free and Golduck slid backwards over the murky film, balanced on its webbed feet.

"Ice beam," its trainer commanded, and Golduck obeyed. The jet of water streaming from its yellow bill powered towards Skarmory, solidifying on impact with the steel. Skarmory squawked; icicles hung from one wing.

Skarmory broke free with another steel wing attack – this time using one wing to slice the other free of ice. The frost shattered under the immense force of the blades and glittered like crystal shards beneath the faint light; beauty amid the dust and grime.

"Impressive," Opal commented. "Violet made it sound as if your sneasel was the one to watch, but now I see that the true talent lies here with Skarmory. I don't understand why you continue to use Sneasel as your lead pokémon, with a fighter like this on your hands…."

Elliot scowled, though his expression was marred by the thick dust clouding the air. "I just caught Skarmory," he muttered. "Sneasel and I have been partners for years."

Opal was taken aback. "Oh, even more impressive!" he grinned. He seemed to have forgotten the battle entirely.

Elliot was quick to remind him. "Show him what else you can do – Skarmory, fury attack!"

Charging across the floor, clawed feet splashing in the sludge, Skarmory darted agilely from side to side, stopping Golduck in its tracks whenever it sought to counter his position. The bird edged closer, then, with the red gem set into Golduck's forehead as a clear target, Skarmory jammed his beak forward and backward like a drill, boring at Golduck's flesh. The blue duck cried out in pain and clutched at its head. It staggered backwards; eyes compressed shut and blood spurting out from its puncture wounds.

In the background, Opal clapped monotonously. He quietly recalled the flailing golduck and paced slowly over to Elliot, each footstep audible as they slapped into the slimy film. As was his style, he stood just a little too close for comfort to his opponent.

"Well done," he whispered into Elliot's ear.

"I'm not joining your team," Elliot announced defiantly, his body rooted to the spot as Opal snaked around him, playing whatever game he was playing. "I know that's what you want from me and you're not getting it."

"Oh, heavens no, my boy!" gasped Opal in mock surprise. "Please," he took a step back, "allow me to give a potion to your skarmory."

He reached into the inside pocket of his blazer jacket and retrieved a sachet of green gel. Elliot tracked Opal's hands with his eyes; it was unlike any potion he had seen before.

The man's footsteps splashed as he edged closer to Skarmory, who, not knowing any better, reared up and flapped his wings at Opal. He was blown back, and staggered quickly to allow his body to collapse on some cardboard boxes rather than tarring his designer clothes with dirt.

Elliot watched objectively as Opal tried again.

He neared the bird and gently stroked his neck, calming Skarmory down slightly. With the pokémon fairly relaxed, Opal lifted up Skarmory's wing and crouched down to better view the red underside. Propping the steel up with his head, he tore open the sachet of medicine. When he dipped his finger inside and applied it to Skarmory's body, the bird froze on the spot. His eyes turned lifeless and his other wing clattered to his side as his muscles loosened.

"Hey!" Elliot screamed, running over and pushing Opal into the ground, catching him off-guard. Skarmory toppled too, his solid body crashing down with an ear-splitting smash of metal on metal. Whether he was dead or just paralysed, Elliot couldn't tell.

Opal scrambled to his feet and leapt at Elliot, overpowering the teen with ease. His face pressed close into Elliot's, and his stale breath filled the boy's nostrils as he cackled, "The Team Rocket member who's still at large? That's _me_!"

And elsewhere in the city, Amber was still running, blissfully unaware of the dangers brought by the night…

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So… how's that for a twist? Did you see it coming?


	12. Crobat Flies

**A/N: **Just a heads-up. These chapters seem to be taking me longer and longer to write. I doubt I'll be updating constantly anymore (as in every few days like I have been doing) but I am definitely keeping up with writing this story because I love it too. I'd just rather take longer to write something that's good and that I'm happy with. Hope you enjoy this chapter anyway!

* * *

><p>Elliot struggled, writhed and wriggled on the floor; anything to get free, but Opal had got him pinned down good and solid. <em>He's probably loving this, the sick madman. Oh god I don't even want to think about it!<em>

Elliot held his breath as the thick stench from the sludge sticking clumps of hair together at the back of his head made his stomach churn. Thrashing to the side, just to avoid having to see Opal's malicious grin ever again, he was caught short.

"Skarmory!" The bird's body was mangled; wings and legs sticking at unnatural angles and lifeless eyes glazed over like marbles. _I'll get that twisted bastard for this!_

Fuelled by rage, Elliot brought his elbow up and violently struck Opal in the nose. A satisfying _**crunc**_**h** echoed in the damp room and Elliot laughed manically. At best, it was broken. At the very least, Opal tottered backwards, clutching at his blood-drenched face, too focused on the pain to maintain his hold on the boy.

Elliot pushed himself backwards and freed his body to the waist. He grabbed Skarmory's pokéball and attempted returning him. It was no use; though the ball was pointed at Skarmory and the red laser light shone against his metallic body, the ball stubbornly refused to accommodate the pokémon no matter how many times Elliot tried it.

_He's not dead!_ Elliot insisted stubbornly. _It doesn't make sense to kill him! What's he… Oh for god's sake – I need a plan B._

Panicked, Elliot did the first thing that came to mind: "Golbat," he muttered, fiddling to exchange Skarmory's pokéball for one that he could be sure would work. The bat burst out at his side, waiting on instructions from her flustered trainer.

Over Elliot's shoulder, Opal was staggering to his feet. Covered in slime and dust, the previously high-class businessman style no longer worked for him; he looked more like a bedraggled zombie as he stretched out one arm whilst keeping the other pressed firmly to his face.

"Golbat, just let's go!" Elliot urged, shooing the bat towards the staircase. With one last look behind him, he bounded forwards behind Golbat and clattered down the stairs, limbs flailing wildly. _Just cause as much commotion as we can – that's plan B sorted!_

Clutching his aching head, Elliot burst into the bar. On her trainer's command, Golbat went berserk. She flitted between circles, flapping her large wings in peoples' faces and dipping her feet in their drinks. The angered patrons dropped their glasses and clamoured towards the bar to complain loudly to an overworked Violet. Seizing his chance, Elliot caught Golbat's eye, and the two charged together through the cleared path to the door. Nobody noticed them leave; with the raucous shouts ensuing from shattered glasses and spilled drinks and misplaced punches, the bar descended into one big brawl. Something as small as a bloodsucking bat wouldn't have made much difference.

"I know you're not Skarmory but _please_, I need you to fly with me!" Elliot shouted as he grasped tightly for Golbat's feet the second they entered the bitter night air.

Free to spread her wings, Golbat jolted upwards, rendering Elliot breathless and nauseous. His palms were sweaty and he felt his grip being shaken free. Golbat flew erratically from side to side, and, just when Elliot thought it couldn't get any worse, he felt Golbat's feet soften and burn like hot wax in his fingertips. He yelped out in pain, but even if he wanted to let go, Golbat wouldn't let him; her claws morphed and strengthened, allowing her to grip tightly around Elliot's wrist. Through the lids of his eyes, he saw a shining beacon of light leading the way. When all of it subsided, he blinked in quick succession and was stunned to see his burnt hands were in the grip of a soaring crobat.

_She evolved? Twice in one day?_ Elliot frowned, lights twinkling from skyscraper windows falling past them._ Of course! Golbat evolve when they trust their partner! Even after what happened with Skarmory, she still trusts me as her trainer?_ He smiled weakly and said, "Oh Crobat, you're brilliant!" but the exaltation was wasted on the wind, for as it rushed past his ears, it isolated them from any other sound.

Within minutes it was freezing. After the initial elation of escaping Opal and leaving him humiliated in the bar for all the people who respected him to laugh at wore off, fear once again bit into Elliot. The realisation that he – Elliot Young – was dangling above Helios City with nothing but a bat pokémon for support… He couldn't even distract himself with the picturesque beauty of the midnight scene below him, for the metropolis didn't seem quite as welcoming now that he had seen its dark side.

Crobat slowed and hovered, and Elliot became aware of the hairs on his arms and legs standing to attention in the stillness of the frosty night. "Go down!" he shrieked, teeth chattering uncontrollably. "We've got away, now we need to f-find Amber and g-get out of here!"

Crobat plummeted and Elliot gagged as he felt bile rise in his throat. _Think pleasant thoughts, happy thoughts, think pleasant thoughts…_

He thought pleasant thoughts. Diving through the night sky, his open shirt whipped behind him in the air current they had created, and he thought of being a superhero, powering through the Helios skyline. It was crude, but his childish fantasy brought him to the ground.

Crobat set him down outside the pokémon centre – the exact same spot where Skarmory had landed him barely twenty-four hours earlier. With windswept hair and dried sludge stuck to his back from the fight with Opal, the scene felt uncannily familiar. And as he had done before, he walked with purpose through the automatic pokémon centre doors. The lights sensed his presence and flickered on, illuminating the now empty lobby.

This time, however, there was no time to linger; Elliot charged upstairs, not caring in the slightest if he awoke every person in the building, for he was on a mission. He slammed down the door handle and pushed. It took a moment to register in his brain the scene of the dormitory and trainers in varying states of sleep, fear and anger before he rendered Amber's empty bed and gasped in horror at the fact that she was still out there.

Elliot muttered a quick 'sorry' and departed as suddenly as he arrived. Crobat waited for him patiently in the lobby, and despite Elliot's dread of flying with her (obvious from his constant mutterings of, "Oh god oh god oh god oh god," accompanied by an expression of abject terror), she obediently picked him up, taking extra care not to injure his blistering hands with her strengthened talons. Unbeknownst to Crobat as she flew him through the automatic doors, Elliot's fear was not only of flying. As much as he hated to admit it, he feared for Amber's safety. Logic followed that, if _he_ – a smart, careful adult could land himself unknowingly in the hands of a Team Rocket admin, Amber would be more than capable of doing much, much worse.

Logic also held that, if he knew Amber – and he didn't, but he liked to think that he could read her like an open book – then the first place to check would be the pokémon gym, situated on the waterfront as he remembered it. He checked the door. It opened, which alone seemed unusual for whatever ungodly hour it happened to be. Elliot took one step inside and he was confronted by a young man with dark hair and a vacant expression sizing him up idly.

"Challenger?" he inquired.

"No, no," Elliot said, straining to look over the gym leader's shoulder.

His heart sank. Sure enough, the room was empty. No Amber, and not even any burn marks or scratches carved into the arena to show signs of there having been a battle at all that day.

Within seconds, Elliot found himself ejected from the gym. The door slammed shut in his face to the tone of, "Then get out!" from the grumpy gym leader.

–

When he and Crobat eventually _did_ find Amber, she responded less than pleasantly. Elliot himself was bubbling with unfulfilled rage, his nostrils practically flaring at being forced to take to the skies again and again. And then she had the nerve to snap at him, "I'm _not_ leaving – I haven't even had my gym battle yet!"

Elliot knelt down in front of her in the damp alleyway he had found her in and took hold of her shoulders firmly. "I am not _asking_ you to leave," he said, in a voice that was so soft it was creepy, "I am _telling_ you." He tightened his grip so that his fingernails left their mark on her hoodie. Leering into the girl's eyes, he hissed, "This is _not_ a request. I need you to understand that I'm deadly serious when I say – we need… to leave… _now!_"


	13. Backtracking to the City in the Moors

**A/N:** I haven't abandoned this story. Just over this past week, I've had other things on my mind. Namely, college. Anyone in the UK probably knows it's exam results time, and I had my A-Level results which basically determine what colleges/universities I can get into in September. I didn't get into the London college I wanted, but I am going to the University of Leeds, which I'm still happy about. It still means I get to move away from home, and I'll be starting at Leeds on 17th September. This chapter's fairly long but it feels a bit disjointed to me, since I just needed something to tie plots together right now. Hope you enjoy it anyway. Also, a map of Kohama has appeared on my deviantArt page.

* * *

><p>Amber sulked in protest and kept her arms defiantly folded, giving Elliot an even harder time and an even bigger headache as he tried in vain to drag her through the city streets in the depths of night. They kept to the main roads, but even then, traffic was scarce. The work-hard, play-hard young businesspeople were all turning in for the night in preparation for a fresh day of work ahead of them, and the only ones still partying were those shady inhabitants of dive bars such as The Murkrow's Nest. Elliot shuddered at the thought of going back there and quickened his pace in the opposite direction.<p>

"But I didn't even get five pokémon!" Amber whined. "All I caught was some lousy poliwag what that stupid fisherman let go…"

"You're coming," he snapped, striding firmly onwards, not caring in the least that she made less sense than a chocolate kettle.

There were (many) instances when Elliot ruefully wished he had just left her behind. Like when she complained every five seconds that her feet ached, or that she felt dizzy or faint or that she was going to drop down dead if they didn't stop and rest. Granted, it may have been the middle of the night, but some things, Elliot reasoned determinedly, were more important than sleep. Things like getting the hell away from that Opal character before he came back with an axe to murder Elliot and his remaining pokémon in their sleep.

The young man was paranoid, and pushed on with wide-eyed fervour. His compromise to Amber's whining was to relinquish her to Crobat, and let his pokémon do the hard work of carrying her uphill.

_We've got to take the hardest route out,_ Elliot told himself when his thighs turned numb from pounding relentlessly up the steep hillsides. _It'd be too easy to sit and cower under a highway or in a suburb. The last place they'll look for us is back where we came from – we have to go back towards Minton City!_

Elliot repeated his mental mantra over and over again to the rhythmic beat of his shoes on the soft soil until the sun rose past the skyline of Helios City and he grudgingly gave in to sleep.

Over the next few days, Elliot kept up and even quickened his pace, turning suddenly silent and brooding every time Amber pestered him as to why he was in such a rush. She sulked. She didn't see what was so important that they had to move on this urgently, and Crobat proceeded to drag her along when she stubbornly refused to walk any further.

All the while, Elliot found himself riddled with conflicting thoughts about Violet, his mind a cavalcade of emotions. _Who is she, and is she really in a league with Opal? _His hand found its way to his phone. Her number was there; all he had to do was press a button. Nervously, his thumb hovered over the keypad, twitching.

With eyes clenched shut, he pressed down firmly and held his breath. The ringing sound went on for an age.

Finally…

"Hello?" the voice paused. "Is anyone there? Hello?" she began to sound agitated.

"Violet?" Elliot whispered, bringing the phone up to his ear.

"You phoned me, you should know," she snapped indignantly. "What is it?"

Elliot blushed. His lip quivered as he said, "It's Elliot. Hi."

He looked timidly over his shoulder; Crobat was nudging Amber onwards, and she was busy taking her anger out at the pokémon. Elliot shook his head solemnly. _I feel sorry for Crobat, I really do._

A distorted shout reverberated through his phone and caused his muscles to involuntarily flinch.

"Uh… Violet?" he hesitated. He could hear her breathing down the line; it was like putting listening into a dragonite's nostrils. Hurriedly, he added before he could stop himself, "Did you know Opal's in Team Rocket?"

A pause. A long sigh, and then the line went dead. Elliot felt a firm lump develop in his throat. _At least she knows… if she didn't before._

_–_

He kept going. Despite there being no signs of anyone following them, Elliot barely rested until they reached Minton City, which was located within the dry moorland where he had captured Skarmory. He remembered it by the thunderstorm where a lightning bolt had struck a tall steel scaffold tower which stood prominently in the city's silhouette.

Even checking into the pokémon centre, Elliot eyed everyone he saw with distrust – even the young, ten or twelve-year-old girls with the likes of hoppip and teddiursa bouncing along at their feet. Everyone was a suspect. He couldn't let his guard down, even for a moment. _Just look at what happened last time,_ he reminded himself.

Amber, meanwhile, ran straight for the gym before Elliot could force her out of town sooner than she had the chance. Luckily, a team of six was unnecessary, as Mike – the burly, unshaven, middle-aged gym leader – boasted only four pokémon.

Natu took the battles with no difficulty at first, dodging Machop's punches with graceful ease as he flitted about, much to Mike's aggravation. The gym leader's lined, grizzly face burned tomato red and the prominent veins in his biceps pulsated angrily when his first pokémon fell; taken victim by Natu's psychic attack. Amber smirked self-righteously.

"Return and go Mankey!" roared Mike, punching forwards into the arena with a pokéball in hand to recall his machop, and sending out a second with equal vigour from which another fighting type bounded forwards.

The pig monkey pokémon screeched and pounded its arms wildly against its chest. It looked scrawny, but Mike held his nerve, convinced his next fighter could do the job.

"Karate chop!" he growled, bringing down his muscled arm and cutting clean through the air as Mankey did the same.

Natu hopped slightly backwards to safety, the draft from Mankey's fist just clipping the feathers atop his head dangerously. He glared, his beady black eyes lingering on Mankey mysteriously.

"Natu, hurry!" Amber cried exasperatedly. "It's-

She grimaced.

Mankey's fist pummelled Natu, hitting the bird squarely in the centre of his spherical body. The blow flung Natu across the room. Dust rose as he collided with the ground, which was constructed to replicate the rocky environment surrounding Minton City in its position at the foot of the mountains.

Mankey came in again, fists raging and narrow eyes squinting to avoid the shards of debris that flung up on the off chance that one of his punches just narrowly missed Natu as he was held to the rock, no control over his motion.

Each punch echoed as a _**'smash!'**_, with the sound echoing painfully around the cave-like room. Whatever Natu was doing, Amber could not see for Mankey's body as it overpowered the bird.

"Do something!" Amber begged, her voice shaky as she shifted restlessly from foot to foot. "Natu!" The girl bit fretfully at her full lower lip, each hit from the mankey's fists weakening Natu's resolve. Her best pokémon was being destroyed by mere brutality.

Then, just as she had given up hope, a perplexing whistle rang throughout the gym. Even Mike heard it, for he momentarily paused in his grinning and air-punching cheerlead for Mankey.

It was as if a faint breeze was running through leafy oak trees – but there were no trees and no breeze inside the gym. Then a whistle, as the non-existent breeze rang through a wind chime, harmonizing at the exact pitch engineered to cause shivers along the hardiest of spines.

The gym fell silent, and then it came.

From nowhere, it materialised; a glowing white sphere of light, powering as if through a vacuum towards Natu's oppressor. Mankey's squinty eyes widened in terror as the translucent orb encapsulated it, casting a fierce glow throughout the whole room. The strange energy shocked Mankey's strained muscles into submission and Natu was released, though could barely move more than a wing feather.

When the orb dissipated, Mankey was as drained as Natu, and traipsed, dragging its long arms at its sides, knuckles scraping the floor.

"Damn future sight," Mike cursed, and returned Mankey to its ball.

Amber stared transfixed at the spot where the light had hit and at Natu who stood hiccoughing in its place. "So that's what it was…" she murmured. "Natu, you come back too."

The third round consisted of Mike's geodude. An anomaly in the fighting themed gym, the rock type fell victim to Poppy quicker than anticipated, to Amber's pleasant surprise. A tirade of razor leaves assaulted its rocky body and sliced clean through the boulders it tossed in attack, resulting in a shower of splinters which rained down across the arena. Poppy trod wearily as she dodged the geodude's tackles, leaping between the rocks covering the floor and wincing as the occasional spike pierced the ball of her foot.

"Poppy, use vine whip!" Amber cried as Geodude bounced towards her. Poppy heeled and stopped dodging. The vines that extended from her fleshy bulb wrapped and tightened around Geodude – one vine restraining each rocky arm. She reeled the pokémon in, a sly smile beckoning Geodude towards her. Poppy's bulb rustled again, and the golden pollen shooting out of it bathed the air in glitter. It floated downwards, gently, landing passively on the restrained and struggling geodude trapped in the grassy entanglements. Stun spore had done it; Geodude seized up, weakened first by the razor leaves and finished off with paralysis. Amber stood in a state of both shock and amazement, her lips slack as she gawped at her first pokémon and the geodude she had defeated with ease.

"You fighting or what?" Mike heckled, bringing her back to reality with a tyrogue displaying his biceps proudly to Poppy.

She nodded firmly, actually enjoying the rush of the battle.

"Poppy, you okay?" Amber asked uneasily. Poppy nodded excitedly; her apparent sudden vigour had confounded Amber.

"Enough!" Mike barked. "Tyrogue – mach punch!"

Faster than a jet, Tyrogue's fist collided with Poppy. The blow could have happened twenty times within the blink of an eye, and when Poppy skidded backwards, it took a moment to register in Amber's mind what had happened.

Mike used that moment to attack again. Tyrogue sprung forwards and ambushed Poppy with a jab as she was down, squinting through the dust of the artificial rock field. Her bright red irises opened to be met with a _**'thwack'**_ as Tyrogue unleashed a mega punch and followed through with a barrage of kicks. The grass pokémon's lip swelled and rubbed against her teeth. She felt hot and numb with a headache coming on rapidly. Poppy felt dizzy, also, and her sturdy legs began to wobble like jelly. It was the same strategy that Mankey had used on Natu – how could she have let them get away with it twice? Amber glared fiercely. Poppy didn't have a surprise attack to counter with; neither was she psychic and could attack with the mind. It came as no surprise, then, when Poppy found herself too weak to get up and face the fighter.

It was not the end. Natu and Poppy were down which gave Amber an allowance of two more pokémon. She only had two more anyway, and it was Terry who arrived next on the field. Amber's strategy was to use his signature rollout move to break through the tirade of physical, close combat attacks. It worked, and the trainer watched smugly as Terry bombed around the field. Tyrogue was taken aback as he cornered Terry, who merely rolled himself up into a ball and shot between his opponent's muscular legs. However, the loose debris and scattered stones made Terry turbulent and unstable. Soon, he was wobbling, and Tyrogue wasted no time in cornering him as he toppled, leaving the sentret as just another victim to the fighting type gym.

One more – the poliwag. "You'd better be a good one," Amber muttered, holding the pokéball to her lips as she prepared to toss it. Tyrogue stood firm, his fists balled at his sides in tense concentration and eyes focused squarely on the space in front of him where the poliwag emerged.

"Poli?" the pokémon squeaked nervously. She looked at Amber, her pink lips pursed in a tight pout. The poliwag looked around. The cave-like room was slightly damp, but it was not what she was used to. She remembered being in the ocean, then sloshing about in a fisherman's net, her slimy body squashed together with tens of other water creatures. The next thing, she was here. She and Amber had barely acknowledged each other, but she was Amber's last chance at victory.

"Poli," Amber said quietly, eyeing Tyrogue with the hope that he had worn himself out slightly. "Don't let it corner you. Just fight, okay?"

–

Beyond the small, run-down building that housed the gym, looming factories clouded the skyline of Minton City, enthusiastically puffing away into the air through their smokestacks. If it had been any bigger, the whole urban area would have been plagued by deadly smog day and night. Elliot coughed. It was hard to see among the heavy dust particles clouding the in front of him. He walked narrow streets along narrow pavements and dark, narrow roads crawling with old, chuntering once-white vans. Cramped terraced houses watched over him and children looked out through dirty windows inquisitively.

"Watch where you're going!" yelled a cyclist bombing past Elliot, splashing his ankles with dirty water that had collected in a blocked drain.

"Idiot," he muttered under his breath, and hopped onto the next bus to take him to the city centre.

–

Tyrogue's limbs tensed and relaxed with the intakes and outtakes of breath he took. He clenched his knuckles and unclenched them, gaze unmoving from the terrified poliwag who shuddered in the cold, dimly lit room.

"Seismic toss!" Mike barked. Tyrogue accelerated towards Poli, his body lowered and arms wide. Stricken by fear, Poli stood as if frozen, allowing Tyrogue to effortlessly slip his arms around her body. She clenched her eyes shut tightly as Tyrogue ran with her, picking up speed and leaping over rocks. She felt her moist skin slipping out of Tyrogue's hands and tucked her tail in tightly to her body. Tyrogue jumped, looked down and slammed her to the floor where she impacted like a meteor with an enormous _**'smash'**_.

Tyrogue encroached upon her. Mike grinned – he had it easy. Poli was too afraid to attack.

"I said don't let them corner you!" Amber screeched, flapping her hands and arms about hysterically. "Can't you fight?"

Poli murmured timidly and squinted, opening one eye and closing it as quickly, for she saw Tyrogue charging through the sandy dust towards her.

_**Slam!**_

A mega kick picked up her body and sent it hurtling into a smooth boulder metres back. Amber tugged nervously at her long, blonde hair. She thought she heard a crack, but whether it was the rock or Poli, it was impossible to tell.

"Use water g-gun!" she stammered, and Poli did try for all her might. The water that spurted from her small mouth hit Tyrogue's stomach squarely as the fighter ran towards her, but it was not nearly enough to slow him down. Realising this, Poli leapt and cowered behind the boulder, body quivering as she looked fearfully up at Amber, pleading to be relinquished from the battle.

_**Smash!**_

The boulder shattered and Tyrogue's fist was the centre point for a dazzling array of rock fragments shooting off in all directions. He eyed the poliwag mercilessly and reared up for a final, fatal punch.


	14. The Pokéball Factory

**A/N:** Well, this was certainly fun to write, and you get your answer to that cliffhanger sooner than you may have been expecting…

**Edit:** I did originally publish this chapter in two parts since it's so long, but it seemed more appropriate to make it into one long chapter instead, so I did that.

* * *

><p>Mike let out a low, rumbling growl and called off the attack. "Stop," he said. Tyrogue halted, his fist still raised in mid-air and poised just over the poliwag's quivering lips. The gym leader breathed a deep sigh.<p>

"As much as I love to fight," he said, "it's unfair to hurt something that can't even defend itself." Mike refused to look Amber or Poli in the eye. "Come back when you can put up a decent fight," he conceded, and turned around and left the room, his sweaty, ruddy skin fading into a mere outline as he walked away from under the spotlights.

Amber was aghast and didn't know what to think. She stood with her jaw gaping and eyelids wobbling. A single tear trickled down the contours of her freckled cheek. Her fingers felt like ice yet her back was damp with warm sweat. She took one look at the poliwag cowering in front of her and scoffed boldly, folding her arms and turning up her nose at the creature begging for her approval. She exited by giving the door a prominent _**'slam!'**_ and seemed disdained by the fact that nobody was around to hear it.

Outside, the wind whipped through the long streets, carelessly tossing empty crisp packets along the concrete like tumbleweeds. Dark storm clouds were circling overhead and the faintest droplets of rain began splashing down all throughout the city. At the end of the road, a huge factory stood ominously. Its dull grey exterior and corrugated steel panels were falling apart at the seams – but so were most of the old industrial buildings in Minton City. This one, however, attracted the girl's attention by way of the large insignia hanging wonkily above the entryway: a pokéball, but it wasn't just any pokéball. The pokéball sign that hung on the factory's façade still maintained its bottom segment as white (or as white as it could be, ravaged by the harsh climes of Minton City over countless years) but its top was an azure blue with red and yellow bands running down its centre. Amber stared, mesmerised for a second, and then the sign changed unexpectedly. Half of the panels making up the blue and red segment flipped, presenting what would have been an alternate image of a green-topped pokéball dotted with red and yellow spots if it were still properly functioning. The segments flipped back, showing again the full image of the blue version.

"Interested?" chuckled a voice in her ear. Amber jumped and spun rapidly around. Behind her, a squat, elderly man leant on his walking cane and smiled beckoningly.

Amber eyed him with suspicion. "What do you want?" she quizzed him.

"Are you a pokémon trainer? I can show you some nice items we make here in the factory."

The man turned out to be a kindly old gentleman no more threatening than a jolly grandpa. He led Amber to the factory shop, where she perused their wares and purchased a multitude of great balls (as stronger pokémon were a must-have), fast balls (similar to an ordinary pokéball, but she was enthralled by the idea of being able to catch something wickedly fast which would give her an advantage over any opponent) and moon balls (she didn't quite understand them, though they intrigued her nonetheless). The factory also offered an assortment of other pokéballs, though Amber deemed most of them to be pretty useless. She ridiculed the level balls openly – who in the right mind wanted to catch _weaker_ pokémon?

Before she could wander out freely, the little old man coerced Amber into tour of the workhouse. He gripped her by the arm surprisingly tightly for a small gentleman and dragged her off eagerly along suspended steel platforms to spy over the manufacturing process. Amber gazed down vapidly with waning interest as the working masses of machoke and primeape laboured intensively over fast-moving production lines off of which pokéballs of all colours and descriptions rolled into press. Amongst it all, the odd geodude hovered, carrying piles of tinted metal between the different levels. The manager – at least that's who Amber assumed the old man was – prattled endlessly about the design process and the ways in which he had improved efficiency over his years in employment, mostly by firing all his staff and replacing them with pokémon. She rolled her eyes – like she _cared_.

–

Elliot splashed through puddles, his plaid shirt unbuttoned and held over his head for shelter. He twitchily scanned the area; the rain was coming down hard and fast now, in bucketloads rather than single spots. He was drenched, and water was trickling through his shirt and dripping down into his dark hair. He squinted. Up ahead a large alternating sign depicting lure and friend pokéballs was just visible through the fog and smog. He ran up, and to his surprise, the doors were open for anybody to enter. Gingerly, he peeked around. When he saw that nobody was there, he snuck inside, leaving the door slightly ajar so to watch the rain lashing down from a safe hideout.

_**Crash!**_

From up ahead, a thick door slammed and the railings and suspended pathways shook from the impact. Elliot flinched instinctively, throwing his arms in front of his face. He held his breath for a few seconds, then relaxed when he realised he was still safe. A high-pitched _'chink'_ sound alerted his senses. On a rusty table pushed to the side of the room, several specialist pokéballs had rolled onto the floor, disturbed by the vibrations from the crash. Each gave a small bounce as they hit the floor and rolled freely. Elliot jumpily checked for any sign of being watched. Realising all was clear on the platforms overhead, he tiptoed quickly over to the table and shovelled several of the capsules into his rucksack.

_**Boom!**_

A deafening roar of thunder sounded, followed by a white flash of lightning which lit up the factory through the gap in the doorway. Elliot froze. There was not a sound beside the constant low rumbling and patter of raindrops. Slowly, his eyes wandered skywards. A second flash illuminated the warehouse briefly and his heart skipped a beat. _Oh no…_

Lit from beneath, the thin man staring down threateningly at Elliot looked even scarier. Elliot gulped as the man vanished, then reappeared through a doorway on the lower level much faster and quieter than it could ever have been possible to walk down the metal stairs. With scarcely a word, he clasped his hand firmly around Elliot's bony wrist. He muttered darkly to himself, his thin lips barely moving as he strode quickly, making Elliot scramble clumsily to keep up the pace, then forcibly pushed the trainer through a door brimming with iron splinters to a tiny, dank room with no lighting and no windows. Elliot nervously inched backwards and pushed his numb fingertips against the cold metal door. It wouldn't budge, and Elliot began to panic. The man cast Elliot a hostile glare and his eyes cut fiercely through the dark, silent atmosphere. Suddenly, Elliot became aware of the strained look of concentration and horror spread across his boyish face, and of his teeth chattering uncontrollably in the chill.

The man grinned spitefully as he shoved Elliot down into a wooden seat. He leered over the boy and hissed, "What do you think you're playing at, mister?"

Elliot stammered and shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. "I- I can… I mean I'll give you everything back!" he pleaded. "I promise!"

His captor refused to let up. Elliot squirmed and pressed his body to the back of the chair, the man's strong cologne invading his nostrils.

"And I thought you were such a nice lad," the man said idly, moving away and picking at his fingernails. "Elliot Young."

Elliot's muscles tensed quickly and sweat poured from his glands. "How do you know my name?" he said weakly, trembling.

The man laughed. In a swift movement, he leant his body over the boy. "Take a look," he hissed, and ran his sharp fingernails down across his face. Skin appeared to fall away before Elliot's eyes, breaking off in huge chunks under the man's hands. His prominent roman nose disappeared and under the costume makeup, fine wrinkles ran around his hazel eyes. Elliot recoiled in terror, kicking at the ground and pushing himself backwards off his seat so that the wooden chair and then himself landed with a clatter on the ground.

Elliot's cheeks burned as he flailed and scrambled to a kneeling position, the man with the distorted face still bearing over him.

"How… how did you know I was here?" Elliot stammered, feeling around hurriedly at his feet and struggling to untangle his shoe from a hole in the chair where his lace had gotten caught.

The man smiled smugly.

"And how did you get here so fast?" Elliot demanded.

Again, a smug smile gave him no answer. He then glimpsed the two pokéballs glinting brightly beneath the man's coat and it all fitted together in an instant. _The disguises, the getting too close for comfort…_ He remembered the disturbing battle with the alakazam and golduck in the Helios warehouse._ There's no doubt about it; Opal can't fly, but he can teleport!_

It _was_ him; there was no doubt about it. A master of disguise, trickery and deceit. And Elliot had thought that he would safe heading to Minton, he had applauded himself with the idea, celebrating what he thought was a stroke of genius. Then _this_ happens. If Elliot hadn't been paranoid before, he was paranoid now. Trembling with fear as the merciless eyes of the devil incarnate drilled into his skull, Elliot did the only thing he knew how.

With shaking fingertips and as little movement as he could muster, he flicked at one of the pokéballs at his waist, his grey irises frozen in a staring match to the death with the body of the man leaning over him.

The pokéball clinked as it dropped the inches onto the floor and rolled a short trajectory. From it, Crobat burst out, and, laying eyes on the man, gave a high pitched screech and flapped her wings wildly at Opal, filling the width of the tiny room with her stretched-out body. Elliot cowered and Opal stumbled a few steps backwards onto the creaky wooden table which groaned under his weight.

Opal growled. "Alakazam."

The psychic type filled up what was left of the room, forcing Opal to press himself awkwardly against the corrugated steel wall opposite the door where Elliot stood tensely.

"Psychic attack!" he commanded.

Alakazam lifted its arms and manoeuvred its fingers strangely in the air. When its eyes began to glow, Elliot panicked. His breathing came hard and fast with the realisation that it was not just Crobat who would be hit, but himself as well. In the tiny cell there was nowhere to hide.

"Confuse ray!" Elliot cried as a rumbling ball of light energy slipped out of Alakazam's dexterous fingertips.

An almighty _**'CRASH!'**_ sounded and Elliot felt sharp shards of metal raining fiercely onto his scalp. A second after the initial explosion, he peered out from underneath his arms, feeling the sensation of tiny insects crawling around his skin when he moved. Dust was whirling around everywhere and huge chunks of metal melted ferociously into the floor. In his peripheral vision, a jagged outline of a hole cut into the only exit. Opal was coughing, having been engulfed in the worst of the smoke. Elliot looked briefly at Crobat, whose eyes seemed to smile. His stomach flipped with joy and he resisted the temptation to leap up and grapple playfully with Crobat. _That's my pokémon,_ he smiled proudly, _and she's amazing!_

A startled shout brought Elliot to attention and he charged. The serrated metal scraped his flesh as he projectiled through the gap in the door blasted away by Alakazam's psychic. Crobat, who had tricked the pokémon, shot through after him like a kite, her four wings trailing behind her round body.

–

The crash was certainly the highlight of Amber's tour. The manager downplayed it and told her to pay no attention, but from the way his frown lines creased up along his forehead, it was obvious he was worried. Amber stumbled and grabbed hold of the handrail for safety as the access platform swayed under her feet like a fairground ride. But this was no fairground; a funnel of smoke poured into the main room from a level near the roof.

"AAAARGH!" screamed a male voice as a figure charged like a battering ram through the dust, hands clamped to the sides of its head.

Amber blinked several times. As the strange man drew closer and exited the smoke, she raised an eyebrow. "Elliot?"

Another crash followed, though this one less distinct. Crashing and banging rippled out from the general scene, and then another man stomped out of the room furiously, hands on his hips and his suit thick in dust. Between splutters, he coughed, "You bastard!" and stumbled after Elliot.

The pathways were rickety beneath Elliot's feet and bounced in reaction to every hardened footstep he hit them with. He held his breath and pounded his arms furiously at his sides, mind focused solely on escaping.

Panting like a thirsty dog, his face was swollen and red and his eyes bloodshot. He glanced backwards with dread – there was no way he could lose his pursuer. Intuition leading over rationality, Elliot flung himself over the handrail and screwed up his face as he dropped through the air, bracing himself for the inevitable impact.

"Elliot, what are you doing?" yelled Amber from across the floor. The voice registered and Elliot opened his eyes for the briefest second to glimpse her wavy blonde locks flowing wildly as she tried to run towards him.

_**Thud!**_

Shock waves pulsed through Elliot's feet, up his calves and diminished as they reached his thighs. He cursed under his breath and brushed down his legs, willing the blood to flow and restore sensation.

"Elliot!"

He looked up. "Amber, what are you _doing_ here?" he demanded furiously. "Get out while you can!"

An uncontrolled clatter began towards the roof and made its way down to the floor. At first, the metal clanged like the chiming of an untuned bell but quickly developed into an ear-shattering event. Elliot winced and dashed towards the tiny light filtering through the main doorway which was still slightly ajar as he had left it.

Amber rolled her eyes and for a fleeting second thought he was being stupidly protective for some reason, and overreacting to a tiny thing. She had been about to warn him, and then the access routes nearer the ceiling gave way. The metal chain linking and cables holding them up to the roof snapped and pinged back upwards as the stranger in the suit jumped and ran crazily through them. Comically almost, the factory manager hung his jaw open half-consciously, watching helplessly as his business fell to ruins. "Run," Amber demanded, nudging him in the ribs so that he coiled over, and she ran for the exit herself.

The factory quickly morphed into the scene of a violent chase, with deafening clashes of foot on metal and adrenaline pumping through veins as Amber and Elliot chased towards each other along the maze of highways where one wrong turning could lead to their downfall. Elliot broke into a goofy smile as the girl ran towards him aghastly; never did either think they could ever be so glad to see the other. Elliot pushed forward and reached for the door handle and behind him, then Amber screamed.

A maniacal crackling cackle sounded from the balcony hanging ominously over them. Between his thin fingers, Opal held sharp blades that looked to Elliot like throwing knives. Sharpened metal tipped with rose red accents, they were. Opal's eyes narrowed into Elliot's, an attempt to pierce the window to his soul. Suddenly, Elliot shot up.

He gasped aloud in sudden understanding. "No!"

Confirming his fears, Opal nodded slowly and grinned.


	15. An Ultimatum

**A/N:** It's a short chapter this time, guys. But just so you know, I'm still here and I haven't deserted this. I've been at uni for two weeks and it's been incredibly hectic and I can already tell it's going to be the best time of my life so far… by a _long_ way. Without getting too personal, I can say that some very good things have happened and some very awful things have happened, but overall, I'm loving it!

This chapter's a bit weird, but so are a lot of them. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

><p>A blade flew past his head and nearly clipped his ear. Elliot swung his head downwards and dodged like a boxer. "You sick bastard!" he exclaimed, the steel knife narrowly missing the thin hairs standing to attention from his arms and clattering to the metal floor, red-tipped, as if already tainted with blood.<p>

The suited man standing above the trainers gritted his teeth. Opal wiped the sweat from his reddened brow and took another swing.

He caught Elliot off-guard by following through so quickly; the teenager flinched as he felt a sharp fragment pierce his calf. Wincing in pain, he knelt down, the blade digging its way in further as he moved. Elliot tugged it urgently, pulling it out of his leg. Holding it towards the light shining in through the ajar door, he examined it.

_The shape, the colour, the sharpness…_ Everything about it fitted together, _and after all_, he reasoned, _it's just the sort of thing a mentalist like Opal would think of._

Looking up determinedly, Elliot demanded, "Show me Skarmory!" his eyes focused and lips tightened.

A flick of the wrist and a grin to match, and sure enough, there was Skarmory, perched beside the malignant businessman. Elliot's heart pumped as he looked from the steel blades to the pokémon that was once his. Skarmory seemed almost lifeless; his ochre eyes were glazed over and his coat lacked its metallic lustre as the ribbon of light filtering through the door bounced upon it. Instead, Skarmory looked as a dull stone; worn down and down until he could take no more. But worst of all were the wings. The bird's expression contorted with agony as he stretched out, then reacted in shock as he remembered he could no longer fly, for what was left of his wings were a few dull steel feathers, clinging on sorrowfully to the thin bones protruding from his body. The blade in Elliot's hand…

"You sick, sick bastard," Elliot muttered darkly, clutching his fist tightly around the only thing he had to remind him of the Skarmory he knew. The wing-blade dug into his palm. Blood seeped out and trickled down his forearm. _Taking my pokémon and using them as weapons… What is this fucked-up bastard planning?_

"RUN!"

Elliot felt his body flung to the side and to the floor, a heavy weight colliding into one side and a faint throbbing in his leg. He skidded, grazing his kneecap against the splintered metal floor and blinked twice. Amber's face was right above his own, and the girl held his head firmly by the ears.

She shook him vigorously. "NOW!" she screamed, leaping off of him and tugging him by the cloth of his shirt to the door. Elliot stumbled, almost falling flat on his face and at the last moment managing to stabilise himself by grabbing onto the doorframe and pick up speed to match his companion. He hardly dared look over his shoulder, but from the clashing of metal-on-metal collisions even louder than his own exuberant breath, he knew that he had been lucky to make a narrow escape.

"And I thought it was _you_ who was meant to be protecting _me_!" Amber huffed when she eventually threw him down at the end of the street leading off of the street leading off of the main road which led to the street where the factory stood. "If I hadn't had dragged you away, you could be dead by now, you know." She turned away from him, small childlike hands holding firmly onto her undeveloped hips.

Elliot couldn't help from rolling his eyes. _Bit dramatic, isn't she?_ He smiled, though; thankful nonetheless, if also irritated.

He crawled to his feet and stood over her. _So what now?_ he pondered to himself, eyeing up the mountains towering over Minton City and all its industrial glory.

Amber's eyes flickered to her peripheral vision where Elliot stood in a state of deep deliberation. She giggled nervously, covering her cracked lips with a blushing red palm.

Elliot rubbed his temples. Blood pounded beneath his sweat-dampened fingertips. _This is getting way out of hand._

Amber paced back and forth. They were out of sight, but when would it be safe to go back? She lightly touched the cold metal of her gym badge from Larkspire City which was pinned to her chest. The finely crafted hoothoot's face called to her, seeming to say, 'Amber… Come back… What happened to gym battles?'

"Right," Elliot said, standing upright and resolute. "I have an ultimatum."

Amber glanced nervously at him. "Go on…" she beckoned.

He avoided eye-contact, fixing instead upon the tall steel framework protruding from the city skyline. "Either you come with me and we run…" he started.

Amber pulled a face. "Or?" she demanded.

"…or you go back home. Simple as that."

She didn't like it, didn't like it at all. Amber scowled viciously like a caged pokémon. "I have a gym battle to go to," she said sternly, puffing out her chest.

Elliot shook his head and turned away to face the mountains. "I don't care," he said. "We're both in danger, and it's that simple. Come with me or go home. I don't care which you choose, but I'm not leaving you here."


	16. On the Run

Elliot made haste. He dumped most of the contents of his heavy bag, making no allowances. He was ruthless; anything that would not be of definite use in the mountains had to go. The extra _stuff_ would only slow him down and tire him. His backpack considerably lighter on his tense shoulders, Elliot dived beneath a rusty, disused iron bridge to fit himself out for the cold weather. He emerged donning a well-worn pair of light denim jeans, black fingerless gloves and big heavy boots good for stomping down snow. His jacket bore tatty patches left on from its days in the army surplus store.

Amber pouted and threw her arms together across her chest. "I have gym battles to go to," she sulked. "What sort of trainer would I be if I didn't go to gym battles?"

Elliot shook his head miserably.

A strong gust blew, spinning several fallen, crispy leaves around their heads. The girl gritted her teeth. Her arms stiffened and she let out an involuntary sniffle.

"Come on," said Elliot, almost placing a hand gently atop Amber's shoulder and realising just in time that it would not be the best thing to do. He withdrew his fingertips and stood back, feeling the girl's frown almost burrowing into him telepathically.

"Get changed," he said sternly. "There are more gyms where we're going, anyway."

Weathered rocks crumbled underfoot in the scramble uphill into the mountains. Minton City below looked like a child's play set ravaged by the harsh climes. Pine trees were sparsely dotted around amid withering shrubbery at uneven intervals along the trail. With altitude, the winds picked up even more; strong, rolling gusts rammed into the trainers to trip up their carefully placed footholds. Elliot bit his flaking lip, clinging onto the gigantic boulders serving as steps in front of him. The wind passed. His ears burned beneath his shaggy hair. He held for a few seconds more, _just to be certain_, and then gradually turned to spy over his shoulder.

_I assumed she'd just follow_, Elliot sighed, his head pounding from cold and frustration. But no; Amber was still tens of metres downhill, trudging along, dragging her pink boots on the rocks. She caught him staring down at her and scowled poignantly. Her lips moved and a vague sound rang out, but it was muffled by the cold wind that bit their ears. Elliot shook his head and beckoned her towards him.

Amber struggled uphill slowly, muttering all the time below her breath. She only reluctantly grabbed handholds as she slipped, saving her arms to wrap around her body to stop the shivering.

Elliot gripped the rough mass of pumice rising up to his chest and cautiously peered upwards. He held on lightly, for the rock might fall backwards and roll downhill, taking his meek body with it and crushing him in the process. He clenched his teeth and decided not to look down at his tiptoes perched on dubious footholds; what he didn't see couldn't hurt him. His heart stammered as he eased himself upwards, and then he couldn't stop grinning.

Jagged minerals dug into Elliot's raw fingertips as he hurled himself over the rock. Breathing out deeply, he rolled onto his back, exuberantly staring overhead into the pale, ice blue sky. He let his arms drop and lay like a starfish. After what felt like hours of climbing, they had finally reached a plateau! Elliot noticed a hand of red fingertips protrude over the edge.

"Hey," he sounded breathlessly, "come up here Amb."

Atop the plateau protruded yet more mountainous pinnacles, though none that they were required to scale, according to Elliot's calculations. He sat up, perched on his bag. Map in hand, he traced his numb fingertip over the path he planned to follow. Though the paper was wearing thin and white lines filled in where it had been folded and unfolded so many times, he nodded contentedly that they had done the toughest of the climbing.

Amber perched on the ground beside him.

"What happened to staying to fight the gym?"

She shrugged and looked away, blushing, and muttered something that sounded like 'don't… weird guy… dangerous'.

Elliot smiled to himself. _Finally, she's recovered some common sense!_

Amber heaved the heavy rucksack off of her shoulders. It landed with a _**thud**_ on the plateau. For once, she stood up straight. The young girl stretched her arms up to the sunlight and gazed out across the plains below where Minton City was a mere scar on the dusty landscape.

From inside a dark and tiny crevice, a nidoran hopped out to greet the world and ended up greeting Amber's shivering bare leg instead. The pokémon tumbled and fell back on her haunches. Her big round eyes watered and her ears drooped. She was tiny, barely reaching the middle of the young girl's shin.

A second, bigger pokémon dashed out and scurried down a trail, leading the baby. The two pokémon disappeared as the path curved around the sides of a rocky outcrop, prompting the trainers to follow.

As they made their way inwards between the mountains, the cliff face dropped out of sight. Overhead, a fracture resulted in a sharp _**crack**_. Elliot's head shot up. His body convulsed in horror. Plummeting towards him was a massive boulder that would surely squash the life out his measly body.

No time to think, he flung himself sideways off the path, knocking Amber to the ground and skidding with her over the dirt. The rock crashed behind him, skimming the toes of Elliot's boots. The boy felt himself drenched in cold, salty sweat which the wind was already freezing to his pink skin.

"Sorry," he stammered, fumbling to his feet and brushing his jeans down. He coughed into his sleeve.

Amber frowned darkly. "Would have been less dangerous staying with that warehouse guy," she muttered.

They carried on walking in silence at a slow pace, pushing on through the cold and hearing only the sounds of the wind and the birds cawing distantly in the air above it.

The trail opened out into a clearing interspersed with tufts of grass growing like weeds wherever they could burst through cracks in the rock. In the middle of the pasture stood something quite curious; flapping wildly in the wind stood a cloth tent. It was old fashioned and made of worn textiles, not unlike a tepee. The thick branch holding it up from the centre swayed dangerously in the wind. Elliot stared, puzzled. _Surely we can't be here already?_ And then, out of the tent emerged a man, middle-aged and dirty. His weathered face looked shocked and he rubbed his eyes with the torn sleeves of his olive coat at the sight of the youngsters. _Trespassers?_ Elliot hoped not.

"Whaddayawant?" he mumbled, dragging himself towards them with the help of a tree branch walking stick.

Elliot stepped back as he approached. Not only did he look in dire need of a bath, he also stank like a garbage heap.

"Er, hello? We were just passing through. Didn't mean to intrude or anything," he stammered.

The man breathed heavily through his wiry beard. Then, he burst into a hearty chuckle.

Elliot was taken aback.

"Don't worry about it, lad!" laughed the stranger. "Here," he reached into his pocket, "do you guys need any supplies for the road?"

Elliot watched as his rough hand emerged grasping several bottles of potion in various states of fullness. Only one appeared unopened. The trainer bought it from the man, and felt his stomach churn for doubting him.

"You guys are pokémon trainers, aren't ya? Do get 'em coming through occasionally. I give 'em any medicines or anythin' else I got, I do. Other than that, it's peaceful up here, in nature, with only a few pokémon around for company."

Elliot stood opposite, smiling awkwardly and shifting his weight from foot to foot, careful to maintain the blood flow. He scrunched up his pockets from the inside and peered over the man's shoulder at his tent. "Doesn't it get cold?" he asked. "I mean – colder than it is now?"

The ageing male slurred uncomfortably. "This isn't bad. You think this is bad, you're in for a _real_ nice treat down the road," he chuckled. "You young 'uns have had it too easy if you this is bad."

The trail sloped downhill and inland, the wind was barred by the mountains. If anything, Elliot thought, the conditions were becoming much easier and much more bearable. For sport, he pitted Crobat against a gligar and allowed Sneasel to entertain himself hunting out the nests of the smaller native creatures. He even managed to convince Amber to put on her bright pink overcoat and join him for a few battles. Stubbornly, she knew he had a point and was soon scouring out swinub and diglett and even a growlithe.

By the end of the day, Amber seemed to have lost any remorse about coming with Elliot, and helped him toast beans over an open campfire they had built in the shelter of a cavern. Bedding down for the night, Elliot was in high spirits. As he turned in his sleeping bag, feeling his cool hands pressed up against his cheek, his mind still lingered on the vagabond's words: _'you think this is bad...?'_


End file.
